Conflict, Covid driving 45 mn globally to edge of starvation
T
he United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday warned that the number of people teetering on the edge of famine in 43 countries has risen to 45 million, as acute hunger spikes around the world. This number has risen from 42 million earlier in the year and from 27 million in 2019.
"Tens of millions of people are staring into an abyss. We've got conflict, climate change and Covid-19 driving up the numbers of the acutely hungry, and the latest data show that there are now more than 45 million people marching towards the brink of starvation," said WFP Executive Director David Beasley after a trip to Afghanistan, where WFP is ramping up its support to assist almost 23 million people.
"Fuel costs are up, food prices are soaring, fertiliser is more expensive, and all of these feeds into new crises like the one unfolding in Afghanistan now, as well as long-standing emergencies like Yemen and Syria," he added.
WFP and its humanitarian partners are ramping up efforts to assist millions of people facing starvation. However, the needs are vastly surpassing the available resources at a time when traditional funding streams are overstretched.
The cost of averting famine globally now stands at $7 billion, up from $6.6 billion earlier in the year.
Families facing acute food insecurity are also being forced to make devastating choices to cope with the rising hunger. WFP's vulnerability analysis across the 43 countries shows families being forced to eat less, or skip meals entirely, feeding children over adults, and in some extreme cases being forced to eat locusts, wild leaves or cactus to survive -- as in Madagascar.
In other areas, families are forced to marry off children early or pull them out of school, sell off assets like livestock or what little else they have left.
Meanwhile, media reports from Afghanistan point to families reportedly being forced to sell their children in a desperate attempt to survive.
Food prices hit a 10-year high this month, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Price Index. This not only pushes food out of reach for millions of the poorest around the globe, but also increases the cost of procuring food on global markets.
Adding to this are the high prices of fuel which also increase transportation costs and place a further strain on the global supply chains. For example, shipping a container cost $1,000 a year ago, but now it costs $4,000 or more.
(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
✔️ Conflict, Covid driving 45 mn globally to edge of starvation
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