Image copyright Imgur Image caption WWF says that in many countries wildlife has been targeted for capture and food
Hunting and fishing has pushed global hunger to its highest levels in two decades in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a new report.
The oceans, rivers and land has become a more fertile soil in an age of climate change, said the United Nations.
“It is time to act,” the agency added.
Hunger has a growing number of roots.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Last year, there were more than eight million Syrian refugees in the region
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in its annual World Hunger Report that hunger is hitting people at every income level.
“The report shows that hunger is not just a problem for poor countries alone – it affects the poorest and most vulnerable people living in all regions and countries,” FAO executive director José Graziano da Silva said.
An estimated 20% of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean remains undernourished.
Some 86 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean are facing severe food insecurity, at risk of undernutrition, while 37 million are undernourished.
In countries such as Nicaragua, some 14% of people in communities like day labourers and farmers are undernourished, compared with 4% in the richest 0.1% of the population.
From October, the red flag warning over hunger will no longer be the focus of the FAO report.
From now on, its new Child Food Security Tracking System will track whether school meals provide children with enough nutrients to learn.
This report comes days after a United Nations agency called on governments around the world to double their spending on food security and nutrition to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of leaving no one behind.
The report warns that as populations grow, the impact of population growth, urbanisation and climate change is expected to expand hunger around the world, possibly as far as 2050.
Hopes for reducing poverty and reducing hunger were bolstered in 2005 when the World Summit in Johannesburg pledged “zero hunger” and adopted the Millennium Development Goals to end hunger and prevent its spread over the next 15 years.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The report says that fisheries are already stressed, making it tougher for fish to survive
But there has been no significant progress towards achieving the goal, according to the FAO report.
“The report documents evidence of a clear break with the past. It also describes a lot of hope for the future. We must take our countryfootprints to the top of the world agenda,” Mr Graziano da Silva said.
The report says the rise in hunger is not only because of the rise in population.
It says that in many countries wildlife has been targeted for capture and food.
Rising tensions over fishing rights, overexploitation and climate change have also meant fish stocks and fish-bearing areas have dwindled, it adds.
“All that is needed to reverse hunger is to redouble our efforts and focus on what people need – food, peace and security,” he said.