A secure food future is built together.

FAO’s SOFI 2026 estimates that 645 million people experienced hunger in 2025, or 7.8% of the world population. A broader measure finds that 25.8% experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. These indicators capture different dimensions of access and should not be added together.

The same report estimates that 2.69 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2025. Together, these findings place agricultural productivity alongside a wider challenge: making nutritious food reliably accessible at a cost households can bear.

FAO’s established food-security framework considers availability, access, utilization and stability together. A national surplus does not automatically secure a household’s diet. The route from production to wellbeing also involves income, health, markets and the continuity of supply.

In FAO’s consistent 2026 series, undernourishment in Africa rose from 16.1% in 2015 to 20.0% in 2025. Asia moved from 8.0% to 6.0%, while Latin America and the Caribbean moved from 5.1% to 4.8%. The different paths show why a shared international goal still requires local understanding.

Moderate or severe food insecurity remained above its 2015 level globally: 25.8% in 2025 compared with 21.4% a decade earlier. A reduction in hunger therefore does not mean every constraint on food access has disappeared. The two measures help explain that distinction.

Central Asia, South-eastern Asia, South America and the subregions of Africa differ in their growing conditions, infrastructure and exposure to disruption. A regional chart is a useful overview; agricultural planning still needs information on local crops, water, households and market conditions.

For WFA, this makes farmer knowledge essential to international exchange. A technical approach that works in one production system may need a different scale, maintenance model, training programme or financing arrangement elsewhere. Practical cooperation begins with that context.

FAO estimates that 13.3% of food was lost after harvest and before retail globally in 2023. The indicator covers handling, storage, transport and processing, with losses varying by commodity. Retail and household waste are measured separately.

The importance for agricultural cooperation is practical. Suitable storage, careful handling, cooling where needed and dependable transport protect goods that farmers have already produced. Local loss assessment helps identify which intervention will make the greatest difference.

FAO’s case studies on agricultural digitalization and automation describe opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency and resilience in low- and middle-income countries. Their relevance depends on the production system and the conditions that allow people to use and maintain a technology.

WFA’s technology dialogue starts with the task. Monitoring crop stress, improving irrigation timing, inspecting a field or reducing repetitive labour each calls for a different combination of knowledge, equipment and service support. The farmer’s benefit needs to remain visible after the demonstration ends.

Food availability is influenced by domestic production, stock levels and net trade. Agricultural exchange can connect different production strengths and seasons, while local infrastructure helps make that exchange usable for producers and consumers.

WFA’s trade perspective therefore sits alongside its food-security mission. The movement of goods needs to support a durable agricultural base: reliable production, clear market requirements, a viable livelihood and public policies appropriate to each setting.

Food-security policy and agricultural opportunity meet at the household. A producer’s ability to invest in the next season depends on the income and confidence created by the last one. Cooperative enterprise, practical knowledge and access to dependable markets can help connect those seasons.

WFA brings farmer interests into international dialogue so that the people producing food have a place in discussions about infrastructure, trade and technology. The aim is cooperation that strengthens rural opportunity as well as the wider supply of food.

A food system draws on many forms of expertise: farmers, researchers, logistics operators, buyers, public institutions and organizations working with rural communities. International dialogue becomes useful when those perspectives meet around a defined agricultural need.

WFA’s meetings and cooperation network provide a setting for that exchange. Our knowledge pages connect the historical record with current evidence, making the wider food-security challenge clearer while keeping the underlying data and its limits accessible.