The depth of food insecurity is most severe in Sub-Saharan Africa among all developing regions

A map of the U.S. showing the depth of food insecurity around the wolrd.

Despite recent gains in production, food insecurity remains most severe in Sub-Saharan Africa because of a combination of inadequate domestic production, population growth, uneven distribution of food, and weak import capacity. Although Asia, particularly India and Bangladesh, accounts for similar numbers of food insecure people as Sub-Saharan Africa, the size of distributional food gaps* (see definition in chart) are estimated to be smaller. Relatively severe food insecurity also persists in a few Central American and Caribbean countries, largely due to the skewed distribution of income, the impact of volatile weather on domestic production, and higher food prices. This map is found in the ERS report, International Food Security Assessment, 2011-21, GFA-22, July 2011.


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