WEB DESK
More than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced acute hunger last year because of wars and climate disasters. United Nations body, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in its 2019 global report, today said Africa was the worst-hit region.
It said Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Syria were among the eight nations accounting for two-thirds of the total number of people worldwide exposed to the risk of famine.
Launched three years ago, the annual study takes stock of the countries facing the greatest difficulties.
FAO’s emergencies director Dominique Bourgeon said African states were disproportionally affected as close to 72 million people on the continent suffered acute hunger.
Conflict and insecurity remained key factors, along with economic turbulence and climate-related shocks like drought and floods, the report found.
Bourgeon said up to 80 per cent of the population depend on agriculture in the affected regions.
The report highlighted the strain put on countries hosting a large number of refugees, including war-torn Syria as well as Bangladesh, which has received more than a million Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.
Globally, the study noted that the overall situation slightly improved in 2018 compared to 2017 when 124 million people suffered acute hunger.
While critical to saving lives and alleviating human suffering, humanitarian assistance does not address the root causes of food crises, WFP Executive Director, David Beasley noted in Brussels, highlighted the importance of “attacking the root causes of hunger: conflict, instability, the impact of climate shocks”.
“Boys and girls need to be well-nourished and educated, women need to be truly empowered, rural infrastructure must be strengthened in order to meet that Zero Hunger goal.
Programmes that make community resilient and more stable will also reduce the number of hungry people. And one thing we need world leaders to do as well: step up to the plate and help solve these conflicts, right now”, Mr. Beasley added.
From 2014 to 2020, the EU will have provided nearly €9 billion for initiatives on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture in over 60 countries.
“Food crises continue to be a global challenge, which requires our joint efforts. The EU continues to step up its humanitarian efforts. Over the last three years, the EU allocated the biggest humanitarian food and nutrition assistance budget ever, with nearly €2 billion overall. Food crises are becoming more acute and complex and we need innovative ways to tackle and prevent them from happening”, said Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management.