United Nations: Hunger is expected to increase in 23 global hotspots over the next three months, with the highest alert for devastation in Ethiopia’s Tigre region, southern Madagascar, Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria, two UN agencies warned on Friday. .
The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program said in a new report on hunger hotspots between August and November that severe food insecurity is likely to worsen.
He put Ethiopia at the top of the list, saying that the number of people facing starvation and death is expected to rise to 401,000 – the highest number since the 2011 famine in Somalia – if humanitarian aid is not provided quickly. Is.
In southern Madagascar, which is hit by the worst drought in 40 years, pests affecting staple crops, and soaring food prices – pushing 14,000 people into devastating acute food insecurity marked by starvation and death by September have hope. Both agencies said that number is expected to double by the end of the year as 28,000 people need immediate help.
In a report in May, 16 organizations including the FAO and WFP said that at least 155 million people faced acute hunger in 2020, with 133,000 people in need of urgent food to prevent widespread starvation deaths, 2019 an increase of 20 million.
In a Friday report, the FAO and WFP said acute hunger is increasing not only in scale but also in severity. In total, more than 41 million people worldwide are now at risk of falling into famine or famine-like situations unless they receive immediate life- and livelihood-saving assistance.
Two Rome-based agencies called for immediate humanitarian action to save lives in 23 hotspots, saying help in the five most vulnerable places is particularly important to prevent famine and death.
He said these deteriorating trends are mostly driven by conflict dynamics as well as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These include rising food prices, movement restrictions limiting market and pastoral activities alike, rising inflation, declining purchasing power, and an early and prolonged lean season for crops.
The FAO and WFP said South Sudan, Yemen and Nigeria remain at the highest alert level, due to the Tigre and southern Madagascar joined for the first time by Ethiopia.
In South Sudan, he said, the famine was most likely occurring between October and November 2020 in parts of Pibor County, and was expected to continue in the absence of sustained and timely humanitarian aid, while two other regions were at risk of famine. made up.
UN agencies said that in Yemen, the risk of more people experiencing famine-like situations has been contained, but the benefits are too fragile. In Nigeria, populations in conflict-affected areas in the northeast may be at risk of reaching catastrophic food insecurity levels.
Nine other countries also face severe food insecurity, the report said, as rising drivers of hunger, as well as Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Colombia, Congo, Haiti, Honduras, Sudan and Syria.
The agencies have added six countries to the hotspot list since the March report – Chad, Colombia, North Korea, Myanmar, Kenya and Nicaragua, it said. Three other countries also facing severe food insecurity are Somalia, Guatemala and Niger, while Venezuela was not included due to a lack of recent data.
In Afghanistan, the FAO and WFP said 3.5 million people are expected to face the second highest level of food insecurity, characterized by acute malnutrition and deaths, from June to November. He said the withdrawal of US and NATO forces in early August could lead to increased violence, additional displaced people and difficulties in distributing humanitarian aid.
In North Korea, secluded under stringent UN sanctions, agencies said there are growing concerns over the state of food security … due to strained access and the potential impact of trade borders, which could lead to food gaps. While the data is extremely limited, he said recent figures from the country’s central bureau stations and an FAO analysis highlight worrying grain shortages.
Disclaimer: This post has been self-published from the agency feed without modification and has not been reviewed by an editor
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