Interview: Top FAO economist outlines food security challenges of pandemic, food waste

ROME, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Worldwide hunger is on the rise, accelerated by a range of factors from the coronavirus pandemic to food waste, the chief economist with the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

In a recent written interview with Xinhua, Maximo Torero, FAO's chief economist said that the pandemic "will certainly cause an increase in the prevalence of undernourishment worldwide" by increasing food insecurity, overwhelming health systems, making farming harder for small farmers in poor countries, and interrupting supply chains.