FAO: Rising prices, food insecurity add to ranks of hungry

By ELAINE KURTENBACH
AP Business Writer

BANGKOK (AP) — A report by the United Nations shows growing numbers of people in Asia lack enough to eat as food insecurity rises with higher prices and worsening poverty. The report by the Food and Agricultural Organization and other U.N. agencies says nearly a half-billion people, more than eight in 10 of them in South Asia, were undernourished in 2021 and more than 1 billion faced moderate to severe food insecurity. It notes the COVID-19 pandemic was a huge setback, causing mass job losses, and the war in Ukraine has pushed prices for food, energy and fertilizer, putting an adequate diet out of the reach of many millions.