According to United Nations agencies and development organizations, food insecurity will worsen around the world by 2023, with approximately 282 million people suffering from severe hunger due to conflict, particularly in Gaza and Sudan.
The number of people facing severe food insecurity due to extreme weather and economic shocks is 24 million more than in 2022, according to the Food Security Information Network's (FSIN) Global Report on Food Insecurity published on Wednesday. The number of people has increased.
The report, which calls the global outlook for this year “bleak,” was prepared for an international alliance of United Nations agencies, the European Union, and governmental and non-governmental organizations.
2023 was the fifth year in a row that the number of people suffering from severe food insecurity increased. It is defined as when people face food shortages that threaten their lives and livelihoods, regardless of the cause or duration.
Much of last year's increase was due to the report's wider coverage and worsening conditions in 12 countries.
Fleur Outels, deputy director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) emergency department, said more geographical regions would experience “new or intensified shocks”, while “major areas such as Sudan and the Gaza Strip “There has been a marked deterioration in the food crisis situation,” he said. he told AFP news agency.
Gaza on the brink of starvation
Last year, around 700,000 people were on the brink of starvation, including 600,000 in the Gaza Strip, and that figure has since risen to 1.1 million in the war-hit Palestinian territories.
Since the first report by the Global Network on Food Crisis covering 2016, the number of food insecure people has increased from 108 million to 282 million, Utters said.
Meanwhile, it added that the proportion of the population affected within the region concerned has doubled from 11% to 22%.
Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Syria, and Yemen continue to experience large-scale, protracted food crises.
“In a world of abundance, children are starving to death,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in the report's foreword.
“The combination of war, climate change, the cost of living crisis and inadequate preparedness means that almost 300 million people will face severe food insecurity by 2023,” he said, adding that “financing will fall short of meeting needs.” We haven’t caught up,” he added.
seek an end to hostilities
Outters said progress in 2024 would depend on an end to hostilities, and aid could “quickly” ease the crisis once humanitarian access was enabled, for example to areas of Gaza and Sudan. He emphasized that there is.
The deteriorating situation in Haiti is due to political instability and a decline in agricultural production: “In the breadbasket of the Artibonite Valley, armed groups have taken over farmland and stolen crops,” said Outers.
It added that El Niño could also cause severe drought in western and southern Africa.
According to the report, conflict and insecurity are the main causes of severe hunger in 20 countries and territories, affecting 135 million people.
Extreme weather events such as floods and droughts are the main cause of severe food insecurity for 72 million people in 18 countries, and economic shocks have left 75 million people in 21 countries in this situation.
“The decline in global food prices did not trickle down to import-dependent low-income countries,” the report said.
At the same time, high levels of debt “limited the government's options for mitigating the effects of high prices.”
According to the report, the situation has improved in 17 countries by 2023, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ukraine.