UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥� The U.N. food chief warned Thursday that the world is facing 鈥渁 global emergency of unprecedented magnitude,鈥� with up to 345 million people marching toward starvation 鈥� and 70 million pushed closer to starvation by the war in Ukraine.
David Beasley, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, told the U.N. Security Council that the 345 million people facing acute food insecurity in the 82 countries where the agency operates is 2 1/2 times the number of acutely food insecure people before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
He said it is incredibly troubling that 50 million of those people in 45 countries are suffering from very acute malnutrition and are 鈥渒nocking on famine鈥檚 door.鈥�
鈥淲hat was a wave of hunger is now a tsunami of hunger,鈥� he said, pointing to rising conflict, the pandemic鈥檚 economic ripple effects, climate change, rising fuel prices and the war in Ukraine.
Since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24, Beasley said, soaring food, fuel and fertilizer costs have driven 70 million people closer to starvation.
Despite the agreement in July allowing Ukrainian grain to be shipped from three Black Sea ports that had been blockaded by Russia and continuing efforts to get Russian fertilizer back to global markets, 鈥渢here is a real and dangerous risk of multiple famines this year,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd in 2023, the current food price crisis could develop into a food availability crisis if we don鈥檛 act.鈥�
The Security Council was focusing on conflict-induced food insecurity and the risk of famine in Ethiopia, northeastern Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. But Beasley and U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths also warned about the food crisis in Somalia, which they both recently visited, and Griffiths also put Afghanistan high on the list.
鈥淔amine will happen in Somalia,鈥� Griffiths said, and 鈥渂e sure it won鈥檛 be the only place either.鈥�
He cited recent assessments that identified 鈥渉undreds of thousands of people facing catastrophic levels of hunger,鈥� meaning they are at the worst 鈥渇amine鈥� level.
Beasley recalled his warning to the council in April 2020 鈥渢hat we were then facing famine, starvation of biblical proportions.鈥� He said then the world 鈥渟tepped up with funding and tremendous response, and we averted catastrophe.鈥�
鈥淲e are on the edge once again, even worse, and we must do all that we can 鈥� all hands on deck with every fiber of our bodies,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he hungry people of the world are counting on us, and 鈥� we must not let them down.鈥�
Griffiths said the widespread and increasing food insecurity is a result of the direct and indirect impact of conflict and violence that kills and injures civilians, forces families to flee the land they depend on for income and food, and leads to economic decline and rising prices for food that they can鈥檛 afford.
After more than seven years of war In Yemen, he said, 鈥渟ome 19 million people 鈥� six out of 10 鈥� are acutely food insecure, an estimated 160,000 people are facing catastrophe, and 538,000 children are severely malnourished.鈥�
Beasley said the Ukraine war is stoking inflation in Yemen, which is 90% reliant on food imports. The World Food Program hopes to provide aid to about 18 million people, but its costs have risen 30% this year to $2.6 billion. As a result, it has been forced to cut back, so Yemenis this month are getting only two-thirds of their previous rations, he said.
Beasley said South Sudan faces 鈥渋ts highest rate of acute hunger since its independence in 2011鈥� from Sudan. He said 7.7 million people, over 60% of the population, are 鈥渇acing critical or worse levels of food insecurity.鈥� Without a political solution to escalating violence and substantial spending on aid programs, 鈥渕any people in South Sudan will die,鈥� he warned.
In northern Ethiopia鈥檚 Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions, more than 13 million people need life-saving food, Griffiths said. He pointed to a survey in Tigray in June that found 89% of people food insecure, 鈥渕ore than half of them severely so.鈥� Beasley said a truce in March enabled WFP and its partners to reach almost 5 million people in the Tigray area, but resumed fighting in recent weeks 鈥渢hreatens to push many hungry, exhausted families over the edge.鈥�
In northeast Nigeria, the U.N. projects that 4.1 million people are facing high levels of food insecurity, including 588,000 who faced emergency levels between June and August, Griffiths said. He said almost half of those people couldn鈥檛 be reached because of insecurity, and the U.N. fears 鈥渟ome people may already be at the level of catastrophe and already dying.鈥�
Griffiths urged the Security Council to 鈥渓eave no stone unturned鈥� in trying to end these conflicts, and to step up financing for humanitarian operations, saying U.N. appeals in those four countries are all 鈥渨ell below half of the required funding.鈥�
Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press
