Miller Magazine Issue: 136 April 2021

44 MILLER / aprıl 2021 NEWS Acute hunger is set to soar in over 20 countries in the coming months without urgent and scaled-up assistance, warn the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) in a new report. Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria top the list and face catastrophic levels of acute hunger, with families in pockets of South Sudan and Yemen already in the grip of or at risk of starvation and death according to the Hun- ger Hotspots report. Although the majority of the affected countries are in Africa, acute hunger is due to rise steeply in most world regions - from Afghanistan in Asia, Syria and Lebanon in the Middle East, to Haiti in Latin America and the Caribbean. Already, over 34 million people are grappling with emergency levels of acute hunger (IPC4) - meaning they are one step away from starvation - across the world. "The magnitude of suffering is alarming. It is incumbent upon all of us to act now and to act fast to save lives, safe- guard livelihoods and prevent the worst situation," said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. "In many regions, the plant- ing season has just started or is about to start. We must run against the clock and not let this opportunity to protect, stabilize and even possibly increase local food production slip away," urged Qu. "We are seeing a catastrophe unfold before our very eyes. Famine - driven by conflict, and fu- elled by climate shocks and the COVID-19 hunger pandem- ic - is knocking on the door for millions of families," said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. "We urgently need three things to stop millions from dying of starvation: the fighting has to stop, we must be allowed access to vulnerable communities to provide life-saving help, and above all we need donors to step up with the US$ 5.5 billion we are asking for this year," he added. Conflict, COVID-19 amongst key drivers of acute food in- security One or a mix of the following factors are behind the projected rise in acute food insecurity in the 20 hunger "hotspots" between March and July 2021. • Conflict or other forms of violence may protract or is likely to increase in parts of Afghanistan, Central African Re- public, Central Sahel, Ethiopia, northern Nigeria, northern Mozambique, Somalia, South Sudan and the Sudan. • COVID-19 will continue to impact numerous countries around the world, leaving them highly vulnerable to eco- nomic shocks. Latin America is the region hardest hit by economic decline and will be the slowest to recover. In the Middle East, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon are seriously affected by a rapid currency depreciation and skyrocketing inflation. • Climate extremes and la Niña-driven weather will likely continue in April and May, driving hunger in several parts of the world - from Afghanistan, Madagascar to the Horn of Africa. • Desert Locust outbreaks in East Africa and on the Red Sea Coast remain of concern. In Southern Africa, in parts of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, African migratory locusts threaten to ravage the summer crops. • Increasingly constrained access in some countries to help people in need has been making things worse. URGENT, AT-SCALE ACTION NEEDED TO STOP RISING HUNGER AND RISK OF FAMINE The report recommends critical short-term actions in each hunger hotspot to address existing and future needs. These range from scaling up food and nutrition assistance, distributing drought-tolerant seeds, treating and vaccinat- ing livestock to rolling out cash-for-work schemes, rehabil- itating water-harvesting structures and increasing income opportunities for vulnerable communities. Agricultural production is possible and essential, espe- cially where access is constrained and people are even more reliant on local production. Earlier in March, FAO and WFP called for US$ 5.5 billion to swiftly scale up actions and avert famine through a com- bination of humanitarian food assistance, cash and emer- gency livelihoods interventions. Acute hunger set to soar in over 20 countries, warn FAO and WFP