Biotech Updates

Hunger in Conflict Areas Continues to Escalate

January 31, 2018

Food shortage in conflict-stricken areas continues to rise, implying greater need for food and livelihood assistance, according to the January 2018 report of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Food Programme for the United Nations Security Council.

The report includes status of food insecurity in 16 countries: Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Iraq, Lebanon regarding the Syrian refugees, Liberia, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine and Yemen, plus the transboundary Lake Chad Basin area. It was noted that, in half of these areas, a large portion of the population (quarter or more) is at emergency level of hunger based on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification food insecurity scale.

The food insecurity in the areas mentioned is mainly driven by conflict, which confirmed the results of the latest global food security assessment released by UN in October 2017,  that most of the hungry (489 million people) live in countries wracked by conflict. Thus, it was concluded in the FAO and WFP report that investing in food security can fortify the initiatives to prevent conflict and attain sustained peace.

Get a copy of the report from FAO and WFP.