Conflicts, weather events and economic crises have exacerbated extreme hunger in the world in 2021, with a record 193 million people in 53 countries experiencing acute food insecurity, 40 million more than the previous year, it said on Wednesday ( 4) a UN agency (United Nations).
The number has been growing and has almost doubled since 2016, the year of the first survey on the subject.
With the war in Ukraine, the prospect is that this scenario will worsen if urgent measures are not taken, completed, in the presentation of its annual report, the Global Network Against Food Crises, an alliance created by the FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture) with the World Food Program and the European Union.
The report assesses acute food insecurity, defined as a lack of food that immediately threatens a person’s life or livelihood. It is different from chronic hunger, which affects about 800 million and is measured by another survey.
Addressing future prospects, the report states that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia – two countries that are major food producers – is likely to exacerbate the fragility of nations heavily dependent on Russian or Ukrainian cereals or fertilizers, such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia. , South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
In 2021, Somalia got over 90% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo received 80%, while Madagascar imported 70% of the two countries’ staple foods.
“The war has highlighted the interconnectedness and fragility of food systems,” the FAO said, warning that the “prospects for the future are not good.”
“If we don’t do more to support rural areas, the magnitude of the damage linked to hunger and the deterioration of living standards will be dramatic. Urgent, large-scale humanitarian action is needed,” he added.
Wars, pandemic and weather
Conflicts have been the cause of food insecurity for 139 million people, especially in countries experiencing political and humanitarian crises such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Yemen.
Economic difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, less severe than in 2020, were the main cause of acute hunger for 30.2 million people worldwide, while extreme weather conditions were the main cause for 23.5 million people. in eight African countries.
In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 12 million people experienced a serious food insecurity crisis in 2021, especially in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Haiti, the most affected country, with 46% of its population in emergency situation.
The report highlights that the impact of the pandemic has worsened the economic crisis in these countries, already affected by natural disasters.
However, experts say that in these countries there is a “partial” economic recovery after the growing season, so the number of people suffering from acute hunger is expected to decrease to around 10.8 million.
This trend, however, can be mitigated by high prices of agricultural inputs, which limit production and reduce demand for labor.
