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SOFI 2022: Chief Economist Interview

The world is is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition by 2030, a goal set by the United Nations in 2015, amidst increasing extreme poverty and chronic malnourishment, according to a new United Nations report.

Country Various Countries - see shotlist

Duration 3m32s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 07/01/2022 4:58 PM

File size 499.20 MB

Unique ID UF2FY1

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist STORY: FAO / FOOD SECURITY 2022 REPORT

TRT: 3:31

SOURCE: FAO

RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS

DATELINE: 15 JUNE 2022, ROME ITALY /FILE

SHOTLIST:

RECENT – ROME, ITALY

1. Wide shot, FAO Headquarters

2. Med shot, national flags, FAO logo

15 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“The main findings of the SOFI report..."

JANUARY 2022, BELETWEYNE, SOMALIA

4. People standing over an animal carcass

10 NOVEMBER 2020, HERAT, AFGHANISTAN

5. Wide shot, men with masks standing or crouching, waiting

6. Close up, temperature check

6 SEPTEMBER 2020, KURIGRAM DISTRICT, BANGLADESH

7. Drone shot, flooded village

15 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“We have also seen that extreme poverty has increased substantially... are not going the correct way.”

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN, UKRAINE

9. Various shots, harvest of wheat

15 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“As Russian Federation stops exporting fertilizers... the affordability by farmers is going down.”

FILE – DATE, LOCATION UNKNOWN, CENTRAL ASIA

11. Med shot, people working on plants in greenhouse

12. Close up, cutting off green tomatoes

13. Close up, man with a pot full of tomatoes

15 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“The only way we will cope with this... can absorb the shock.”

AUGUST 2020, AL-ODAIN, YEMEN

15. Zoom in, woman feeding chicken

16. Pan left, chicken eating from pot

17. Close up, chicken

15 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

18. SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“What this SOFI brings is that one mechanism... access to healthy diets.”

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN, EGYPT

19. Various shots, tomato harvest

20. Wide shot, woman laying tomatoes to dry

15 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

21. SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“Now that we know where we are, we need to start to change ... the agrifood systems that we need.”

FILE – DATE, LOCATION UNKNOWN

22. Various shots, seafood market

Script The world is is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition by 2030, a goal set by the United Nations in 2015, amidst increasing extreme poverty and chronic malnourishment, according to a new United Nations report.

The State Of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 report, issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) found that if the current trends continue, in 2030 we will have 670 million people chronically undernourished worldwide, exactly the same as we had in 2015 when the world set the Zero Hunger initiative, pledging to eliminate hunger and malnourishment by 2030.

SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“The main findings of the SOFI report this year are not as good as we would have liked. The reason is simple – the SOFI reports up to 828 million people chronically undernourished, what we call the POU (Prevalence of Undernourishment) indicator. This means an increase of 150 million more people chronically undernourished, with respect to the previous year.”

The key drivers behind food insecurity are conflict, climate change and the economic slowdown due to COVID19, which combined with growing inequalities are pushing millions into extreme poerty.

SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“We have also seen that extreme poverty has increased substantially, we have lost close to a decade of extreme poverty reduction. We have also seen that the inequality is going up. And in addition, of course, all the indicators of nutrition are not going the correct way.”

The ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict, involving two of the biggest global producers of staple cereals, gas and fertilizer, is disrupting supply chains and further affecting prices of grain, fertilizer, and energy. In the first half of 2022, this resulted in higher food price.

SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“As Russian Federation stops exporting fertilizers these could effects the planting season for next year. And if we simulate our global reduction in the yields because of less access to fertilizers, which the prices are going up and therefore the affordability by farmers is going down.”

Global economic growth prospects for 2022 have been significantly revised downward which will reflect in less financial resources to invest in agrifood systems. Public-private partnerships will be extremely important for investments in agrifood systems and public spending and investments will be critical in the face of climate extremes and supply chain disruptions, as the private investors may be hesitant to invest in agreefood.

SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“The only way we will cope with this so that people have more access to healthy diets so that we have a reduction of chronic undernourishment is if we increase resilience of countries. And what it means to increase resilience? It means first to have early warning tools in place so that countries can be better prepared and to understand better the risks and uncertainties they will face. Second to have absorption capacity. So if the shock happens, I can absorb the shock.”

Another important mechanism that needs addressing is the use of subsidies by the goverments to prop their agricultures.

SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“What this SOFI brings is that one mechanism to that with the resources that we have today is to us better the USD 630 billion that every year in average is given to subsidies to the world, to the different countries in the world. Why is this so important? Because these resources and around 70 or more percent of these resources are allocated in such a way that they are creating distortions because they are providing subsidies to the sector. They are creating effects over our nature and our environment. And they are not providing the correct incentives to assure that we have better access to healthy diets.”

According to the report, if governments repurpose its resources to support more food consumers as they do support producers, they will contribute to making healthy diets less costly and more affordable, sustainably and equitably for all.

SOUNDBITE (English) Maximo Torrero, Chief Economist, FAO:

“Now that we know where we are, we need to start to change and we need to find a way in which we can really change. And what we understand is that there won't be only one policy. There has to be a portfolio of policies of actions that need to be taken to create a transformation of the agrifood systems that we need.”

The report also found that the gender gap in food insecurity – which had grown in 2020 under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic – widened even further from 2020 to 2021, driven largely by the widening differences in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Asia. In 2021, 31.9 percent of women in the world were moderately or severely food insecure compared to 27.6 percent of men.

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