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Hunger and gender inequality are critically intertwined, leaving women and girls extremely vulnerable, according to the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2024. This annual report, in addition to updating the Global Hunger Index, this year includes an analysis of the gender variable, highlighting that gender discrimination and violence are aggravating food insecurity, preventing women from accessing basic resources such as food and land. This report is produced by WHH and Concern Worldwide and translated into Spanish by Ayuda en Acción.
Less than six years away from the goal of achieving Zero Hunger by 2030, the outlook is grim. According to the GHI 2024 data, the global score is 18.3, only slightly lower than the 2016 score of 18.8. For Alberto Casado, Advocacy Director of Ayuda en Acción, this reflects a “stagnation in the fight to reduce hunger.” “At the current rate, the world will not reach low levels of hunger until 2160, which is 130 years behind international commitments,” Casado said.
According to GHI 2024 data, as many as 42 countries face alarming or serious levels of hunger, with countries such as Somalia, Yemen or Chad suffering the highest levels of malnutrition and undernourishment. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest levels of hunger, progress has been virtually zero since 2016, while in Latin America and the Caribbean, hunger levels have worsened due to rising food inflation and extreme debt conditions.
In addition, protracted conflicts in regions such as Gaza and Sudan have triggered unprecedented food crises, and elsewhere, such as Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo, food insecurity has been exacerbated by political instability, violence and climate impacts.
Food security gap reaches 19 points between men and women in some regions
In the midst of this alarming reality, gender inequality plays a crucial role. Women and girls are the most affected by food insecurity. Studies show that, in some regions, the food security gap between men and women can be as high as 19 percentage points, with women being the most likely to suffer from hunger. This situation is even more critical in conflict-affected countries, where women living in poverty, in rural areas, in informal employment, or who are refugees or migrants, face additional risks and greater barriers to accessing food.
Climate change has further intensified the difficulties for women, who are largely responsible for agricultural work and family feeding. “Droughts, floods and other extreme weather events force many women to travel greater distances to fetch water or forage for food, increasing their workload and leaving them less time to care for their own or their families' nutrition. At the same time, agricultural and financial policies continue to ignore the deep gender inequalities that underlie food systems, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and malnutrition,” adds Pilar Lara, from Ayuda en Acción's Advocacy team with a background in gender-sensitive work.
“We women can do it”.
Martiza Flores has experienced this firsthand. She is from the municipality of Masahuat, a very rural area of El Salvador, where around half of the population lives in severe poverty. Until five years ago, their access to vegetables was limited to once a week, when people came by with a cart to sell them near her community. To buy food, the whole family depended on the money her husband earned, which in many months was not enough. Five years ago, as part of an Ayuda en Acción project, Maritza started working in organic vegetable production. "Now, if I need a tomato or a cucumber, I just have to step out of the house to get it. Our life has changed a lot and we sell the vegetables to the communities and nearby towns. It also shows that we women can do it,” says Maritza.
“It is urgent to prioritize women on the global agenda”.
In this situation, gender justice is a fundamental pillar for achieving food security and climate resilience. This implies not only the recognition of the different needs and vulnerabilities faced by women, but also the equitable redistribution of resources and equal representation in decision-making processes. The lack of women's participation in food policy at all levels limits the impact of current measures, leaving a large part of the female population without the necessary tools to face the challenges that directly affect them.
“Global hunger will not be solved without addressing gender inequality,” concludes Lara. “Women are not only victims of this crisis, but also essential agents of change in food production and distribution. Their empowerment is crucial to building more resilient societies in the face of food crises,” she adds.
Casado, in turn, stresses the political recommendations made in the report, which involve incorporating the gender perspective in food policies. “Public investments should focus on improving women's access to basic services, promoting an equitable distribution of labor and resources within communities. Gender must also be mainstreamed into all legal frameworks and programs. Without significant investment in these sectors, women will continue to be at a disadvantaged position, and efforts to reduce hunger will be insufficient,” he says.
Finally, Lara emphasizes the importance of women's own participation in the formulation of food policies: “Empowering women is crucial for them to be key actors in food production and distribution”.
GHI, an annual index of the international platform Alliance 2015
The Global Hunger Index is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger and compare hunger levels across countries and regions. The GHI has been published annually since 2006 initially by IFPRI and Welthungerhilfe, since 2007 also by Concern Worldwide and since 2018 by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide, within the framework of the international platform Alliance 2015, of which Ayuda en Acción is part.
You can also check out the GHI 2024 summary and poster on our website.
