By Olamide Tejuoso
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Yemen, have been identified by the United Nations report, as countries housing more than 40 per cent of the most vulnerable people needing emergency food aid, as of 2022, as they are suffering acute levels of hunger. According to the UN report, some of the 258 million identified people were plunged unto the brink of starvation due to causes of conflict, economic shocks and climate disasters.
The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said recently, “More than a quarter of a billion people are now facing acute levels of hunger, and some are on the brink of starvation. That’s unconscionable. It was a stinging indictment of humanity’s failure to make progress … to end hunger, and achieve food security and improved nutrition for all”, he added. The 2023 Global Report on Food Crises found a seven-year high in hunger numbers in 2022, up from 193 million people in 53 countries and territories in 2021. It is the fourth consecutive year with rising numbers of people experiencing Phase 3 or above of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, designating their food security situation as serious. The report has, therefore, urged the international community to act early to fend off these imminent food crises rather than wait until famine conditions have been reached and the next generation is negatively impacted.
