GLOBAL FOOD CRISES REPORT

Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) released a report named Hunger Hotspots – August to November 2021.
The 2021 Global Food Crises Report released in May 2021 had already warned of acute food insecurity, soaring to a five-year high, pushing at least 155 million people into acute food insecurity in 2020.

Important points:

Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan, northern Nigeria and Yemen are among 23 countries where acute food insecurity will worsen from August through November, 2021.
Ethiopia and Madagascar are the world’s newest “highest alert” hunger hotspots.
Ethiopia faces a devastating food emergency linked to ongoing conflict in the Tigray region.
Meanwhile, in southern Madagascar the worst drought in 40 years is expected to push 28,000 people into famine-like conditions by the end of 2021.

Factors causing food insecurity:

Population displacement, abandonment of agricultural land, loss of life and assets, disruption of trade and cropping and loss of access to markets caused by conflicts can worsen food insecurity.
Violence is predicted to intensify in Afghanistan, Central Sahel, the Central African Republic etc.
Violence is also likely to disrupt access to humanitarian assistance.
In 2020, almost all low- and middle-income countries were affected by the Pandemic Natural
Extreme weather conditions and climate variability are likely to affect several parts of the world during the outlook period.
In Haiti, for instance, reduced precipitation during the main growing season ended May is likely to have impacted yield. Continued below-average rainfall, on the hand, is likely to reduce yield during the main rice-growing season.
Desert Locust infestation was a major worry in the Horn of Africa at the beginning of July 2021, while other regions were unaffected.
Humanitarian access is limited in various ways, including administrative/bureaucratic impediments, movement restrictions, security constraints and physical constraints related to the environment.
Countries currently facing the most significant obstacles, preventing aid from reaching those who need it most are Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic etc.

Suggestions:

Short-term protective interventions be implemented before new humanitarian needs materialise and immediate actions are to be taken for addressing existing humanitarian requirements.
Integrate humanitarian, development and peacebuilding policies in conflict areas – for example, through social protection measures to prevent families from selling meagre assets in exchange for food.
Scale-up climate resilience across food systems by offering smallholder farmers wide access to climate risk insurance and forecast-based financing.
Strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable to economic adversity through in-kind or cash support programmes to lessen the impact of pandemic-style shocks or food price volatility.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT

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