About 1 in 3 Albanians suffer from food insecurity due to lack of money or other resources according to the latest data in the report “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World in 2022” published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
It estimates that between 2019-2021, the percentage of the population at risk of the “prevalence of food insecurity” is 30.9 percent. This average has decreased compared to the years 2014-2016, when the percentage was 38.8 percent.
Some 7.7 percent fof Albanians are at severe risk of food insecurity, an improvement from the previous survey where it was 10 percent. However, the rate remains the highest in Southeast Europe. Almost 21 percent of Macedonians are at risk of food insecurity, 14.1 percent of Serbians, 14 percent of Montenegrins, and 12.6 percent of Bosnians. Only 4.4 percent of Western Europeans are at risk
In the Southern European region where a number of countries are counted, our country is the one with the highest level of population that has mild or severe food insecurity. North Macedonia accounts for 20.9 percent of the population in 2019-2021, while Serbia 14.1 percent. After them comes Montenegro with 14 percent, Bosnia-Herzegovina with 12.6 percent and Croatia with 11.4 percent. Western Europe has this indicator only 4.4 percent.
“Prevalence of food insecurity measured by the degree of experience of food insecurity Definition: Food insecurity measured by this indicator is limited by the access to food of individuals or families due to the lack of money or other resources. The severity of food insecurity is measured by data collected from the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES-SM) survey module, a set of eight questions that asks respondents to report their conditions and experiences related to limited access to food,” the report states in terms of methdology.
