Saturday, May 21, 2022

Hunger Looms for Millions

 18 million people in Africa’s Sahel region face severe hunger in the next three months.

The hunger crisis may also press increased numbers of people to migrate out of the affected areas, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

“A combination of violence, insecurity, deep poverty and record-high food prices is exacerbating malnutrition and driving millions to the fringes of survival,” Martin Griffiths, the head of OCHA, said. “The recent spike in food prices driven by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is threatening to turn a food security crisis into a humanitarian disaster.”

Four countries — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger — are facing “alarming levels”, with nearly 1.7 million people facing emergency levels of food shortages there.

Tomson Phiri, spokesman for the UN’s World Food Programme, said “The situation is definitely going to get worse before it gets better.”

UN: 18 million people facing severe hunger in Sahel region | News | Al Jazeera

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