Page 4 - Vol.37-No.3 issue

ACUTE HUNGER SET TO SOAR IN OVER 20
EDITORIAL
COUNTRIES, WARN FAO AND WFP

Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria top the list Conflict, COVID-19 amongst key drivers
and face catastrophic levels of acute hunger, with fami- of acute food insecurity
lies in pockets of South Sudan and Yemen already in the One or a mix of the following factors are behind the
grip of or at risk of starvation and death according to the projected rise in acute food insecurity in the 20 hunger
Hunger Hotspots report.
“hotspots” between March and July 2021.
Although the majority of the affected countries are in • Conflict or other forms of violence may protract or is
Africa, acute hunger is due to rise steeply in most world likely to increase in parts of Afghanistan, Central Afri-
regions - from Afghanistan in Asia, Syria and Lebanon can Republic, Central Sahel, Ethiopia, northern Nigeria,
in the Middle East, to Haiti in Latin America and the Ca- northern Mozambique, Somalia, South Sudan and the
ribbean.
Sudan.
Already, over 34 million people are grappling with
• COVID-19 will continue to impact numerous coun-
emergency levels of acute hunger (IPC4) - meaning they tries around the world, leaving them highly vulnerable
are one step away from starvation - across the world.
to economic shocks. Latin America is the region hardest
“The magnitude of suffering is alarming. It is incum- hit by economic decline and will be the slowest to re-
bent upon all of us to act now and to act fast to save lives, cover. In the Middle East, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon
safeguard livelihoods and prevent the worst situation,” are seriously affected by a rapid currency depreciation
said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. and skyrocketing inflation.
“In many regions, the planting season has just started • Climate extremes and la Niña-driven weather will
or is about to start. We must run against the clock and not likely continue in April and May, driving hunger in sev-
let this opportunity to protect, stabilize and even possi- eral parts of the world - from Afghanistan, Madagascar
bly increase local food production slip away,” urged Qu. to the Horn of Africa.
“We are seeing a catastrophe unfold before our very • Desert Locust outbreaks in East Africa and on the
eyes. Famine - driven by conflict, and fuelled by climate Red Sea Coast remain of concern. In Southern Africa, in
shocks and the COVID-19 hunger pandemic - is knock- parts of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zim-
ing on the door for millions of families,” said WFP Exec- babwe, African migratory locusts threaten to ravage the
utive Director David Beasley. summer crops.
“We urgently need three things to stop millions from • Increasingly constrained access in some countries to
dying of starvation: the fighting has to stop, we must be help people in need has been making things worse.
allowed access to vulnerable communities to provide
life-saving help, and above all we need donors to step
up with the US$ 5.5 billion we are asking for this year,”
he added.
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