from ADANE BIKILA in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA, (CAJ News) – SOME 45 million around the world are on the brink of famine, an increase from 42 million earlier in the year.
This has more than doubled from 27 million in 2019.
“Tens of millions of people are staring into an abyss,” warned David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP).
“We’ve got conflict, climate change and COVID-19 driving up the numbers of the acutely hungry, and the latest data show there are now more than 45 million people marching towards the brink of starvation.”
The increase is explained by recent food security assessment data that shows an additional 3 million people facing IPC4 (Emergency or worse) in Afghanistan, alongside marginal increases in Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya and Somalia.
WFP’s vulnerability analysis across 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.
WFP and its humanitarian partners are ramping up efforts to assist millions of people facing starvation.
However, the needs are vastly surpassing available resources at a time when traditional funding streams are overstretched.
WFP reports that the cost of averting famine globally now stands at US$7 billion.
This is an increase from $6,6 billion earlier in the year.
– CAJ News