Inflation and government transfer are said to be one of the causes of food insecurity.
Food-insecure households are said to be increasing every year. (Photo: World Grain)
Causes Of Food Insecurity And Its Effects
According to a recent report by the US Department of Agriculture, the causes of food insecurity and the number of food-insecure households in the US increased by approximately 3.5 million in 2022 compared to the previous year.
This marks the largest increase in causes of food insecurity and food-insecure households since the 2008 financial crisis.
Food insecurity refers to limited access to sufficient food and one of the causes of food insecurity is a lack of financial resources. In 2022, around 17 million households, accounting for 12.8% of US households, experienced food insecurity due to the increasing causes of food insecurity.
The number of people in food-insecure households rose to 44.2 million due to many different causes of food insecurity, up from 33.8 million in 2021.
Moreover, nearly 7 million households faced severe effects due to the causes of food insecurity, resulting in reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns due to limited resources for obtaining food.
According to a published article by Business Insider, experts attribute the rise and causes of food insecurity to changes in government-transfer policies and inflation.
However, the expansion of the SNAP program helped alleviate the increase to some extent.
The increase in causes of food insecurity coincided with the end of various safety net enhancements implemented during the pandemic.
El Niño Event
In a published article by NASA Earth Observatory, this year’s El Niño event is forecasted to strengthen through the end of 2023 and is expected to contribute to high levels of food insecurity.
FEWS NET’s food security analysts use scenarios of regional rainfall deficits or surpluses to assess their impact on crop yields and food security, assisting organizations like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in understanding humanitarian needs and providing food assistance.
