About 733 million people, or some 9 percent of the world population, may have faced hunger in 2023, according to the latest edition of the United Nations' (UN) "State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World" released on Wednesday.

The figure is about 152 million more than in 2019, said the report titled "State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024: Financing to End Hunger, Food Insecurity and Malnutrition in All Its Forms."

The report, which was published by five UN agencies: the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Children's Fund, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, was launched in the context of the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil.

According to the report, trends are not yet moving in the right direction to end hunger and food insecurity by 2030, and the indicators of progress towards global nutrition targets similarly show that the world is not on track to eliminate all forms of malnutrition, with billions of people still lacking access to nutritious, safe and sufficient food.

In 2023, an estimated 28.9 percent of the global population -- 2.33 billion people -- were moderately or severely food insecure, the report said.

While hunger is still on the rise in Africa and has remained relatively unchanged in Asia, notable progress has been made in the Latin American and Caribbean region, the report noted.

According to the report, trends are not yet moving in the right direction to end hunger and food insecurity by 2030, and the indicators of progress towards global nutrition targets similarly show that the world is not on track to eliminate all forms of malnutrition, with billions of people still lacking access to nutritious, safe and sufficient food.

Nevertheless, progress in many countries provides hope of the possibility of getting back on track towards hunger and malnutrition eradication, the report said.

Implementing the policies, investments and legislation needed to revert the current trends of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition requires proper financing, the report emphasized, calling for a common understanding regarding how this financing should be defined and tracked.

The report provided a long-awaited definition of financing for food security and nutrition and guidance for its implementation, and recommendations regarding the efficient use of innovative financing tools and reforms to the food security and nutrition financing architecture.

Establishing a common definition of financing for food security and nutrition, and methods for its tracking, measurement and implementation, is an important first step towards sustainably increasing the financing flows needed to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition, and to ensure access to healthy diets for all, today and tomorrow, according to the report.

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