Following the fall of Kabul and the invasion of Ukraine by a belligerent Russia, the world’s food supply is experiencing a massive shortfall. It didn’t help that these crises were preceded by two years in which the Covid pandemic brought the world to a halt, and these supply chain issues became even worse once the conflicts broke out. With food getting more expensive by the day, it is the people in impoverished and rural communities who will suffer the most.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the UN has just released a report through the World Food Program as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization. This report identified twenty spots where hunger is most acutely going to be experienced by the people living there, and many in these areas have already been experiencing a lot of food insecurity for quite a long time now and these new problems might push them over the edge.
The worst off countries in this list are South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria and Ethiopia, with Afghanistan and Somalia now joining their ranks due to ongoing conflicts in those regions. There are around 750,000 people who are faced with starvation in these countries, and unless steps are taken soon it seems unlikely that they would find any relief and make it to next year with all things having been considered and taken into account.
These countries are at IPC 5, the Catastrophic level, which is the highest level of food insecurity that the UN can estimate based on its current statistics. Other countries like the Congo, Sudan, Haiti and Syria are slightly better off than those that are IPC 5, but in spite of the fact that this is the case they are still at IPC 4 which indicates a ”highly concerning” level of food shortages in that region.
Sri Lanka’s recent economic crisis has also caused lots of problems, putting the country in the IPC 4 category for the first time. Zimbabwe, Guinea, Cabo Verde and of course Ukraine have now been added to this list as well, joining the ranks of Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar and Lebanon.
This is now quickly turning into one of the biggest food crises since the start of the 21st century, worse than the Arab Spring of 2011 or the 2008 crisis that preceded and was made even worse by the massive recession that occurred during that period. However, there is hope on the horizon since this report has compiled specific things that can be done to mitigate food shortages in all of these nations.
The most critical thing is to act quickly, since according to this report the sooner that countries take action the easier it will be to smooth these problems out before the turn into full blown humanitarian crises. Every dollar invested into solving food shortage issues in these hotspots will help save seven dollars in the long run because it is more expensive to fix such things when they have been given some time to descend into further anarchy, so it won’t be long before it’s too late.
H/T: United Nations / WFP / World Food Programme
Read next: Bill Gates shows the way forward to eliminate current climate crisis and here is what we can do
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the UN has just released a report through the World Food Program as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization. This report identified twenty spots where hunger is most acutely going to be experienced by the people living there, and many in these areas have already been experiencing a lot of food insecurity for quite a long time now and these new problems might push them over the edge.
The worst off countries in this list are South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria and Ethiopia, with Afghanistan and Somalia now joining their ranks due to ongoing conflicts in those regions. There are around 750,000 people who are faced with starvation in these countries, and unless steps are taken soon it seems unlikely that they would find any relief and make it to next year with all things having been considered and taken into account.
These countries are at IPC 5, the Catastrophic level, which is the highest level of food insecurity that the UN can estimate based on its current statistics. Other countries like the Congo, Sudan, Haiti and Syria are slightly better off than those that are IPC 5, but in spite of the fact that this is the case they are still at IPC 4 which indicates a ”highly concerning” level of food shortages in that region.
Sri Lanka’s recent economic crisis has also caused lots of problems, putting the country in the IPC 4 category for the first time. Zimbabwe, Guinea, Cabo Verde and of course Ukraine have now been added to this list as well, joining the ranks of Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar and Lebanon.
This is now quickly turning into one of the biggest food crises since the start of the 21st century, worse than the Arab Spring of 2011 or the 2008 crisis that preceded and was made even worse by the massive recession that occurred during that period. However, there is hope on the horizon since this report has compiled specific things that can be done to mitigate food shortages in all of these nations.
The most critical thing is to act quickly, since according to this report the sooner that countries take action the easier it will be to smooth these problems out before the turn into full blown humanitarian crises. Every dollar invested into solving food shortage issues in these hotspots will help save seven dollars in the long run because it is more expensive to fix such things when they have been given some time to descend into further anarchy, so it won’t be long before it’s too late.
H/T: United Nations / WFP / World Food Programme
Read next: Bill Gates shows the way forward to eliminate current climate crisis and here is what we can do
