Imagine a world where rising food prices force a parent to skip a meal so their children can eat. A world where farm workers grow food they cannot afford while other communities watch their crops perish due to extreme weather conditions. This is our current reality: we are living through a food crisis. Today, nearly 800 million people face chronic hunger. However, hunger is not caused by scarcity but rather by corporate greed and a system that prioritises profit over people and the planet. The world produces enough food to feed everyone, but rising food prices make nutritious food unaffordable for many people. In March 2022, just after the Russia-Ukraine war began, food prices peaked, and we saw the cost of food reach its highest point since the early 1970s.
A few corporations controlling food systems and food traders (people who bet on the future price of food) artificially drive up prices. Moreover, corporations involved in food systems are often inadequately regulated. Today, food systems account for 34% of global greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to droughts, floods, and other natural disasters that, in turn, threaten food security. This makes the decarbonisation of food systems a critical goal for a just transition. Given this reality, will G20 leaders address the systemic challenges that cause hunger, or will they let hunger persist and deepen?
What caused the current food crisis?
A global food crisis is not a new phenomenon. In the past 50 years, we have had three: the 1970s (sparked by high energy prices), 2008 to 2012 (triggered by the 2007 Financial Crisis), as well as the current one. While geopolitical issues like war fuel these crises, deeper flaws in the global food systems create vulnerabilities to rapid price changes.
Food systems refer to the actors, steps, and impacts of food production from the farm to your plate. They include producing, processing, distributing, and eating food. Food systems shape economies, societies, health, politics, and the environment. Understanding food systems allows us to see how national and global policies influence what we eat.
Learn more
Explore the full findings and recommendations in the IEJ’s G20 Food Security Factsheet.
Other factsheets in the 2025 G20 series include:
- What is the G20?
- International taxation
- African debt crisis
- Fossil phase out
- Climate financing
- Green industrialisation
- Universal social floors
- Women empowerment