The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) both warned on Wednesday about 16 regions where famine was an imminent threat.
The two UN bodies also called for more funding as many international aid organizations struggle amid a withdrawal of US support under President Donald Trump.
“We are on the brink of a completely preventable hunger catastrophe, threatening mass starvation in many countries,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. He warned that failing to address it “will only lead to instability, migration and conflict.”
in the joint report“Populations in Haiti, Mali, Palestine, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen face imminent threat of catastrophic hunger,” the groups said.
Additionally, Rohingya refugee camps in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Kenya and Bangladesh were listed as areas of “very high concern”.
Huge funding increase needed
The report also said funding for humanitarian assistance was “dangerously short” of what was needed, adding that the two bodies had received only $10.5 billion of the $29 billion needed to keep operations fully operational.
FAO warned that failure to remain fully funded would threaten food supplies and lead to “recurring crises”. “Funds for seeds and livestock health services were desperately needed,” the organization said, “before the planting season begins or new shocks hit.”
“Famine prevention is not just a moral duty, it is a smart investment in long-term peace and stability,” said FAO chief Qi Dongyu. “Peace is a prerequisite for food security and the right to food is a basic human right.”
Scientists have long warned that the world’s poorest and most conflict-stricken regions will be hardest hit by climate change, and that food shortages there will have cascading effects on the rest of the world.
Edited by Shawn Sinico