Globally, about 690 million people are food insecure. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity was on the rise, with the percent of population affected by moderate or severe food insecurity increasing by 3%. If these trends continue, an estimated 840 million people will go hungry by 2030.

To address this crisis, we need timely and accurate data about who is malnourished, who has food, and how to deliver it to those in need. Data can also be used to respond to limited agricultural productivity levels and improve productivity and monitor crop losses. Strong agricultural data can be leveraged to build systems designed to support food-insecure people.

Food is national security. Food is economy. It is employment, energy, history. Food is everything.

— Chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen