Conflicts, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic made more than a quarter-billion people suffer acute food insecurity last year in 58 countries.
That's roughly three percent of the global population which now stands at eight billion.
Acute food insecurity is when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.
In seven of them - Somalia, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen - people faced starvation and death.
The findings were laid out in a report by the Global Report on Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian organisations founded by the U.N. and European Union.
While the increase last year was due in part to more populations being analysed, the report also found that the severity of the problem increased as well, “highlighting a concerning trend of a deterioration.”
The report found that the number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food aid — 258 million — had increased for the fourth consecutive year, a “stinging indictment of humanity’s failure” to implement U.N. goals to end world hunger, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said.
Rein Paulsen, director of emergencies and resilience for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, said an interplay of causes was driving hunger. They include conflicts, climate shocks, the impact of the pandemic and consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine that has had an impact on the global trade in fertilisers, wheat, maize and sunflower oil.
The impact has been most acute on the poorest countries that are dependent on food imports. “Prices have increased (and) those countries have been adversely affected,” Paulsen said.
He called for a “paradigm shift” so that more funding is spent investing in agricultural interventions that anticipate food crises and aim to prevent them.
“The challenge that we have is the disequilibrium, the mismatch that exists between the amount of funding money that’s given, what that funding is spent on, and the types of interventions that are required to make a change,” he said.
The U.N. World Food Programme's new chief issued a warning that the agency's resources to provide food aid amid the surging needs are “running dangerously low.” Executive Director Cindy McCain told panellists at an event to present the report that the agency could be forced to make “heart-breaking decisions to slash” assistance if substantial new funding doesn't materialise quickly.
On a visit to the Horn of Africa McCain had earlier tweeted "the world cannot forget about Somalia."
Food insecurity affects more than 250 million people
More than a quarter of a billion people in 58 countries, including Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Somalia faced acute food insecurity in 2022. Up for the 4th consecutive year.
This is what the mon dial report on food crises revealed on Wednesday. For the UN, this painting is the symbol of humanity's failure to eradicate hunger in the world.
"The 2023 report on global food crises gives us an even broader picture of world hunger than previous editions. And sadly, as we've heard, the numbers are alarming. In seven countries, people are facing to situations close to famine. 35 million people are on the brink of famine. 258 million people are experiencing an acute food and nutrition crisis", explains Utta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships.
Conflict and climate change among others are at the center of this drama. For the FAO, initiatives in favor of agriculture could help reverse the trend.
“We have evidence, after years and decades of interventions, of what is needed at the household level to prevent famine; of what is needed at the household level to address acute food insecurity, such as This report documents. But these interventions need to be scaled up and financed. And there is evidence that one-off agricultural interventions are the most cost-effective way to address acute food insecurity for the vast majority of people covered by this report," said Rein Paulsen, director of the Food and Agriculture Organization's Office for Emergencies and Resilience.
There is urgency, the report "highlighting a worrying trend of deterioration".
African youth want to fight against violence
While stability is far from being won in Africa, the African Youth Ambassador for Peace in Southern Africa on Wednesday called on the international community to reinvent the mechanisms that can help mitigate violence. It was at the UN Security Council.
In this quest for stability, Cynthia Chigwenya seeks the involvement of young people.
“Efforts to mitigate violent conflict require nimble policies that can a) absorb and integrate existing initiatives; b) leverage the peacemaking potential of young people; c) promote sustainability through financial support and technology, and to encourage young people to participate in development processes."; said Cynthia Chigwenya.
Young people who no longer believe in international institutions.
“Trust in institutions, especially that of the constituents I represent, namely young people, is waning. Many of us no longer believe in institutions and it is up to us, those in these spaces, who 'it behooves us to reinvent the space so that it becomes not just inviting for young people, but attractive, so that they are more encouraged to participate.'; explained the African Youth Ambassador for Peace in Southern Africa.
Faced with the multiplication of crises, the Security Council is called upon to assume its responsibilities.
For a week, the Sudanese army agrees to the IGAD initiative to extend the armistice
The Sudanese army announced its approval of the IGAD initiative to extend the truce for a week. He explained in a statement that the proposal comes "in conjunction with the high-level mechanism established by the presidents of South Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti, provided that the dialogue takes place in a country that agrees with the mechanism."
On Wednesday, the Sudanese army announced its approval of the IGAD initiative to extend the truce for a week.
The army said in a statement: "Within the framework of the IGAD initiative to deal with the current crisis in the country, the organization submitted a new proposal, which is to extend the current truce for a week, and to name a representative from each side to discuss the truce."
He explained that the proposal comes "in conjunction with the high-level mechanism established by the presidents of South Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti, provided that the dialogue takes place in a country that agrees with the mechanism."
He added, "Our agreement stems from the principle of African solutions, taking into account the humanitarian aspects, taking into account the ongoing American-Saudi initiative, and we hope that the rebels will abide by the armistice."
Since April 15, states in Sudan have been witnessing massive clashes between the Sudanese army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the "Quick Support" forces led by Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo "Hamidti", which left hundreds of dead and wounded.
Since the beginning of the clashes, Saudi Arabia has been playing calming roles, stopping escalation and returning to dialogue through contacts with both sides of the conflict.
Heavy rains, floods and landslides have killed at least 55 people in western Rwanda, according to local reports citing the Rwandan Red Cross and government officials. The flood toll is expected to rise.
Landslides appear to have blocked major roads leading to the area, hampering rescue efforts , as more rains are forecast for the area.
The death toll from landslides and floods in Rwanda now stands at more than 109, due to heavy rains battering the country, authorities said.
Rwanda's public broadcaster, RBA, reports that 109 people have died so far, including 95 in the Western Province and 14 in the Northern Province.
Earlier, the governor of the country's Western Province told the BBC that at least 50 people had died after heavy rains battered the area "all night".
"Many houses have collapsed on people, the provisional number of dead is now 55 and there are many injured ," Governor Francois Habitegeko said.
He said the main roads in the province, including the new road that winds along Lake Kivu, "are not passable due to landslides" .
He added that rescue operations in remote areas were ongoing and the number of casualties was likely to rise.
The Rwandan meteorological agency announced heavy rains throughout the month.
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