"The centre of gravity of hunger has shifted from Asia to Africa," said David Laborde, director of the agrifood economics division at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The report, put together by the FAO and four other UN agencies, estimated that hunger affected 309 million people in Africa last year, or 20 per cent of the population. It was followed by Asia, where 292 million people were touched by hunger, or six per cent of the population. Overall, the proportion of the world population facing hunger decreased from 8.6 per cent in 2022 to 7.8 per cent in 2025, the UN agencies estimate. The UN also warned in June that a prolonged Middle East war could push millions more people into acute hunger.