Maps
Interactive Map: Tracking World Hunger and Food Insecurity
Interactive Map: Tracking World Hunger and Food Insecurity
Hunger is still one the biggest—and most solvable—problems in the world.
Every day, more than 700 million people (8.8% of the world’s population) go to bed on an empty stomach, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
The WFP’s HungerMap LIVE displayed here tracks core indicators of acute hunger like household food consumption, livelihoods, child nutritional status, mortality, and access to clean water in order to rank countries.
But whereas acute hunger measures short-term inability to meet food consumption requirements, often related to crises, many people in the world also suffer from chronic hunger. This is the persistent inability to meet food consumption requirements, usually lasting for at least six months.
After sitting closer to 600 million from 2014 to 2019, the number of people in the world affected by hunger increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, 155 million people (2% of the world’s population) experienced acute hunger, requiring urgent assistance.
The Fight to Feed the World
The problem of world hunger isn’t new and attempts to solve it have made headlines for decades.
On July 13, 1985, at Wembley Stadium in London, Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially opened Live Aid, a worldwide rock concert organized to raise money for the relief of famine-stricken Africans.
The event was followed by similar concerts at other arenas around the world, globally linked by satellite to more than a billion viewers in 110 nations, raising more than $125 million ($309 million in today’s dollars) in famine relief for Africa.
But 35+ years later, the continent still struggles. According to the UN, from 12 countries with the highest prevalence of insufficient food consumption in the world, nine are in Africa.
Country | % Population Affected by Hunger | Population (millions) | Region |
---|---|---|---|
Afghanistan 🇦🇫 | 93% | 40.4 | Asia |
Somalia 🇸🇴 | 68% | 12.3 | Africa |
Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 | 61% | 19.8 | Africa |
South Sudan 🇸🇸 | 60% | 11.0 | Africa |
Mali 🇲🇱 | 60% | 19.1 | Africa |
Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 | 55% | 8.2 | Africa |
Syria 🇸🇾 | 55% | 18.0 | Middle East |
Niger 🇳🇪 | 55% | 22.4 | Africa |
Lesotho 🇱🇸 | 50% | 2.1 | Africa |
Guinea 🇬🇳 | 48% | 12.2 | Africa |
Benin 🇧🇯 | 47% | 11.5 | Africa |
Yemen 🇾🇪 | 44% | 30.0 | Middle East |
Approximately 30 million people in Africa face the effects of severe food insecurity, including malnutrition, starvation, and poverty.
Wasted Leftovers
Although many of the reasons for the food crisis around the globe involve conflicts or environmental challenges, one of the big contributors is food waste.
According to the United Nations, one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. This amounts to about 1.3 billion tons of wasted food per year, worth approximately $1 trillion.
All the food produced but never eaten would be sufficient to feed two billion people. That’s more than twice the number of undernourished people across the globe. Consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa each year.
Solving World Hunger
While many people may not be “hungry” in the sense that they are suffering physical discomfort, they may still be food insecure, lacking regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development.
Estimates of how much money it would take to end world hunger range from $7 billion to $265 billion per year.
But to tackle the problem, investments must be utilized in the right places. Specialists say that governments and organizations need to provide food and humanitarian relief to the most at-risk regions, increase agricultural productivity, and invest in more efficient supply chains.
Maps
Mapped: Renewable Energy and Battery Installations in the U.S. in 2023
This graphic describes new U.S. renewable energy installations by state along with nameplate capacity, planned to come online in 2023.

Renewable and Battery Installations in the U.S. in 2023
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Renewable energy, in particular solar power, is set to shine in 2023. This year, the U.S. plans to get over 80% of its new energy installations from sources like battery, solar, and wind.
The above map uses data from EIA to highlight planned U.S. renewable energy and battery storage installations by state for 2023.
Texas and California Leading in Renewable Energy
Nearly every state in the U.S. has plans to produce new clean energy in 2023, but it’s not a surprise to see the two most populous states in the lead of the pack.
Even though the majority of its power comes from natural gas, Texas currently leads the U.S. in planned renewable energy installations. The state also has plans to power nearly 900,000 homes using new wind energy.
California is second, which could be partially attributable to the passing of Title 24, an energy code that makes it compulsory for new buildings to have the equipment necessary to allow the easy installation of solar panels, battery storage, and EV charging.
New solar power in the U.S. isn’t just coming from places like Texas and California. In 2023, Ohio will add 1,917 MW of new nameplate solar capacity, with Nevada and Colorado not far behind.
Top 10 States | Battery (MW) | Solar (MW) | Wind (MW) | Total (MW) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Texas | 1,981 | 6,462 | 1,941 | 10,385 |
California | 4,555 | 4,293 | 123 | 8,970 |
Nevada | 678 | 1,596 | 0 | 2,274 |
Ohio | 12 | 1,917 | 5 | 1,934 |
Colorado | 230 | 1,187 | 200 | 1,617 |
New York | 58 | 509 | 559 | 1,125 |
Wisconsin | 4 | 939 | 92 | 1,034 |
Florida | 3 | 978 | 0 | 980 |
Kansas | 0 | 0 | 843 | 843 |
Illinois | 0 | 363 | 477 | 840 |
The state of New York is also looking to become one of the nation’s leading renewable energy providers. The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is making real strides towards this objective with 11% of the nation’s new wind power projects expected to come online in 2023.
According to the data, New Hampshire is the only state in the U.S. that has no new utility-scale renewable energy installations planned for 2023. However, the state does have plans for a massive hydroelectric plant that should come online in 2024.
Decarbonizing Energy
Renewable energy is considered essential to reduce global warming and CO2 emissions.
In line with the efforts by each state to build new renewable installations, the Biden administration has set a goal of achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and a net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.
The EIA forecasts the share of U.S. electricity generation from renewable sources rising from 22% in 2022 to 23% in 2023 and to 26% in 2024.
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