A new United Nations food security report released Tuesday found that global hunger has declined only modestly in recent years, with more than 500 million people still projected to face chronic hunger by 2030 — and Africa bearing the greatest share of that burden. For the first time, the continent has surpassed Asia in the number of hungry people, and could account for nearly 60 percent of the world's chronically undernourished population by decade's end, driven by rapid population growth, slower economic gains, and ongoing conflicts. Álvaro Lario, president of IFAD (the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development), warned that geopolitical tensions and energy-market disruptions — including uncertainty over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — could push an additional 9 to 18 million people into hunger, while rising fuel costs squeeze small-scale farmers and climate shocks increasingly destabilise agriculture across the region.