Conflict, COVID, climate crisis, likely to fuel acute food insecurity in 23 ‘hunger hotspots’

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) have warned that 41 million people in 23 states mainly in Middle East and Africa (Afghanistan, Angola, Central Africa Republic, Central Sahel, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia, South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen) were already at risk of falling into famine. 155 million people in 55 countries faced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels in 2020, according to the Global Report on Food Crises. The report emphasizes that conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks arising from the economic fallout of COVID pandemic, are possible to remain major drivers of acute food insecurity for the August-November period this year. On the other hand, WFP introduced that humanitarian access constraints such as bureaucratic obstacles are another severe aggravating factor, increasing the risk of famine. Concerning on this situation, the report of FAO and WFP highlights that humanitarian action is urgently needed to prevent hunger, famine and death in all 23 hotspots and that international society must take on responsibility to help farmers resume food production themselves.

 

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