France, April 24 -- The report, which described the global outlook as "bleak" for this year, is produced for an international alliance bringing together UN agencies, the European Union and governmental and non-governmental bodies.

2023 was the fifth consecutive year of rises in the number of people suffering acute food insecurity - defined as when populations face food deprivation that threatens lives or livelihoods, regardless of the causes or length of time.

Extreme weather events and economic shocks also added to the number of those facing acute food insecurity, which grew by 24 million people compared with 2022, according to the latest global report on food crises from the Food Security Information Network.

Much of last year's incr...