Thursday, 6 May 2021, 5:15 pm
At least 155 million people faced crisis levels
of food insecurity in 2020 because of conflict, extreme
weather events and economic shocks linked in part to
COVID-19, a UN-partnered flagship report said on
Wednesday.
It’s been five years since
hunger levels were this bad across 55 countries under
review, according to the Global Network Against Food Crises
(GNAFC),
which noted that 20 million more people went hungry last
year than in 2019.
Countries in Africa remained
“disproportionally affected”, it said, adding that
conflict pushed almost 100 million people into acute food
insecurity, followed by economic shocks (40 million) and
weather extremes (16 million).
Vicious cycle:
Global hunger was at 5-yr high last year; outlook for 2021 even worse: UN
By
Around 155 million people faced acute food insecurity in 2020 as a result of global conflicts, economic crises and extreme weather conditions, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other agencies said.
Of the 155 million, 1.3 lakh people needed urgent food to prevent widespread death from starvation, said the report which predicted the outlook for 2021 as equally grim or even worse.
The situation was described in the “2021 Global Report on Food Crises” issued by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), an international alliance bringing together the UN’s FAO and World Food Program (WFP), the European Union (EU), governmental agencies and non-profit organizations.
Brussels/Rome, May 6 (ANI): The number of people facing acute food insecurity and needing urgent life and livelihood-saving assistance has hit a five-year high in 2020 in countries beset by food crises, an annual report launched by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) has found.
WORLD / CROSS-BORDERS
FAO warns over food fears
By AFP Published: May 06, 2021 07:03 PM The economic cost of the global pandemic as well as conflict and climate change are fueling food security fears that in 2020 reached their highest level in five years, according to a report published on Wednesday.
Yemeni girls from families who were affected by the war and blockade, stand in a line as they wait to receive a lunch meal from a charitable center on April 12, 2021 in Sana a, Yemen. Photo: VCGIn 2020, 155 million people in 55 countries faced acute food shortages - 20 million more than in 2019, according to a report by the EU, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme, which see the problem as getting steadily worse.
Acute food insecurity at 5-year high in 2020 due to war, economic crisis, extreme weather: UN agencies Xinhua | Updated: 2021-05-06 11:11 Share CLOSE Children receive food from a charity group in Hajjah province, Yemen, March 4, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
ROME - Conflicts, economic crises and extreme weather conditions pushed the number of people who faced acute food insecurity to 155 million in 2020, the highest figure in five years, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other agencies said here on Wednesday.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu has called for addressing the root causes of acute hunger, and for making agri-food systems more efficient, resilient, sustainable and inclusive.