UNIDO Maps Global Food Security Crisis and Outlines Six-Pillar Plan for Transforming Agro-Food Systems
SDG 2: Zero Hunger | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Institutions: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare | Ministry of Food Processing Industries
A new United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) report on global food security warns that the world is facing the worst food crisis in modern history, driven by pandemics, conflicts, inflation and climate extremes. The document highlights that 733 million people faced hunger in 2024, while 2.3 billion were moderately or severely food insecure, and 2.6 billion people could not afford a healthy diet. The gender gap has widened, with women accounting for 60% of the world’s hungriest people. By 2030, nearly 512 million people will still face hunger, while global food production needs to rise 70% by 2050 to feed 9.1 billion people.
Food systems remain highly inefficient—40% of global food loss occurs post-harvest, and 19% of all food produced is wasted. Agro-food systems consume 72% of global freshwater, generate over 30% of emissions, and threaten 86% of species at risk of extinction. These strains especially affect smallholder farmers and MSMEs, who face structural gaps in technology, finance, storage, and compliance environments.
To address these challenges, UNIDO outlines a six-pillar transformation strategy:
Sustainable food systems & reduced post-harvest loss through infrastructure like Integrated Agro-Food Parks (IAFPs), cold-chain capacity, Centres of Excellence, and Food Safety 2.0.
Skills & capacity building to improve MSME competitiveness, particularly for women and youth.
Investment mobilisation via IFIs, blended finance, and new platforms like the Alliance for Special Agro-Processing Zones.
Agro-innovation & technology, including circular practices, digital tools like U-SPARK, and Innovation Hubs.
Strategic infrastructure such as agro-industrial parks, effluent treatment plants, and storage systems to build resilience.
Nutrition & food safety, including fortification, improved regulatory capacity, laboratory strengthening, and global harmonisation efforts.
UNIDO and Food Security
UNIDO also highlights major global initiatives such as the Agrifood Systems Transformation Accelerator (ASTA), the World Without Hunger Conference, the Food Loss & Waste Action Plan, and large-scale value-chain programmes (coffee, cotton, fisheries, meat, horticulture). These programmes demonstrate measurable impacts—e.g., IAFPs in Ethiopia have linked 280,000 farmers, created 100,000 jobs, and mobilised USD 1.1 billion, while value-chain programmes in Cambodia, Pakistan, Kenya, and West Africa have strengthened MSMEs, upgraded processing, enhanced food safety, and reduced losses.
For India, the report reinforces the need to scale post-harvest infrastructure, strengthen food-processing clusters, promote circular and resource-efficient practices, and deepen global value-chain participation. India’s own PM-FME, APEDA value-chain programmes, Mega Food Parks, and agri-export clusters align with UNIDO’s model, offering opportunities for targeted investment, farmer–MSME linkages, and global partnerships.
Follow the full report here: UNIDO and Food Security