According to the research, almost a million people live in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen, where famine and death are a daily reality, and high levels of mortality and malnutrition may occur if quick action is not taken.
It noted that the number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide is expected to rise precipitously as the food crisis tightens its grip on 19 “hunger hotspots” exacerbated by rising conflict, weather extremes, and economic insecurity exacerbated by the pandemic and the ripple effects of the Ukraine crisis.
The FAO and WFP research, ‘Hunger Hotspots – FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity,’ urged for immediate humanitarian action to preserve lives and livelihoods and avert famine in hotspot nations where acute food insecurity is anticipated to grow from next month through next January. The study makes country-specific recommendations on the priorities for anticipatory action – short-term preventative measures put in place before new humanitarian needs arise – and emergency response – activities taken to address current humanitarian needs.
“The terrible drought in the Horn of Africa has driven people to the verge of hunger, destroying crops and killing animals that they rely on for existence.” Acute food insecurity is on the rise and spreading around the world. People in the poorest nations, in particular, who have yet to recover from the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic, are suffering from the rippling effects of ongoing wars, including price increases, food and fertilizer shortages, and the climate emergency. Without a stepped-up humanitarian response that prioritizes time-sensitive and life-saving agricultural assistance, the situation in many countries would undoubtedly worsen in the next months,” warned FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.
“This is the third time in ten years that Somalia has faced a terrible famine.” Two consecutive failed rainfall seasons, as well as violence, contributed to the 2011 famine. Today, we face a perfect storm: a sixth straight failed rainy season, with the drought expected to stretch well beyond 2023. However, those at the epicenter of today’s crisis are also dealing with skyrocketing food prices and severely reduced employment options as a result of the epidemic. “We urgently need to get support to those in Somalia and the world’s other hunger hotspots,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.
The report emphasized the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa, where the longest drought in over 40 years is expected to continue, with the fifth failed rainy season in a row on the horizon, adding to the cumulative, devastating effects of successive rainfall deficits, economic crises, and conflict on vulnerable households since 2020.
Globally, an all-time high of 970 000 people are expected to face catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) and are starving or projected to starve or at risk of deterioration to catastrophic conditions in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen if no action is taken – ten times more than six years ago, when only two countries’ populations were in Phase 5.
The research urged for focused humanitarian response in hunger hotspots to preserve lives and livelihoods.
#Securitynews
#Africasecuritystories
#Dakoresecurity
#PublicIntel
#360securitynews
#Globalsecuritynews
#PublicIntelwithdakore
#SecurityStories
