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Conflict, Climate Change, and Covid-19 Are Aggravating World Hunger
The 2021 Global Report on Food Crises found that 155 million people in 55 countries faced acute hunger in 2020, an increase of 20 million people suffering from severe food insecurity compared with the previous year.
May 09, 2021
The Covid-19 pandemic, protracted conflicts, and climate change have created an untenable situation for the most vulnerable, with 155 million people across 55 territories suffering from severe food insecurity, sending acute hunger figures to a 5-year high.
That's according to the Global Network Against Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian partners working to prevent hunger and respond to food crises. The Network, which was founded by the European Union, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP), released the findings of its 2021 Global Report on Food Crises on Wednesday, May 6.
"Humankind can now pilot a helicopter drone and even split molecules to generate oxygen on the far-off planet of Mars, yet here on Earth, 155 million of our human family are suffering acute hunger and their lives and livelihoods are at risk because they lack the most basic of foods. The contrast is shocking and not acceptable."
--Qu Dongyu, FAO
The partners have issued an annual report on food crises since 2017, but this year's publication presents the grimmest snapshot to date of global food insecurity. It reported that 20 million more people faced acute hunger in 2020 than the previous year.
Stating that by the end of 2020, the zero hunger by 2030 goal seemed "increasingly out of reach," the report categorized 133,000 people in Burkina Faso, South Sudan, and Yemen as being in "catastrophe," meaning that they need immediate action to prevent widespread death and collapse of livelihoods.
Additionally, it stated that children living in food-crisis countries are especially vulnerable to malnutrition. In the 55 food-crisis countries under review, almost 16 million children under 5 years were acutely malnourished, while 75.2 million children under five years experienced stunted growth.
The Network partners say it is possible to reverse the rising trend of food insecurity, but this requires urgent commitment, finance, and action.
"Humankind can now pilot a helicopter drone and even split molecules to generate oxygen on the far-off planet of Mars, yet here on Earth, 155 million of our human family are suffering acute hunger and their lives and livelihoods are at risk because they lack the most basic of foods. The contrast is shocking and not acceptable," said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu.
The FAO Chief says as the international and humanitarian community prepares for the United Nations Food Systems Summit in September, the information in reports like this one should serve as a guide for solutions to the world's hunger crises.
"This requires a bold transformation of agri-food systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable. This includes the development of early warning systems linked to anticipatory actions to protect livelihoods and food security before a shock or the threat emerges," he said.
U.N. Children's Fund Executive Director Henrietta Fore told the launch that the situation was worrying. She said Covid-19, with its lockdowns, economic and social shocks, has worsened a fragile nutrition situation.
"In virtually every single one of the crises described in this year's report, the most vulnerable are young children and marginalized, hard-to-reach populations," she said. "These children and their communities must be our priority. We need to invest in data and information systems that help us identify hot spots of vulnerability and risk at the sub-national levels in key countries. This information is critical in targeting resources efficiently to reach children, their families and their communities who are most in need."
While the partners lament the staggering acute food insecurity statistics, the outlook is just as dire. They say threat of famine persists in some of the world's worst food crises.
"Tragically, this report is just the tip of the iceberg that we're facing all around the world," said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.
"The global picture is even more bleak when we consider all countries significantly impacted by hunger. For example, chronic hunger, which was 690 million, is now up an additional 130 million people."
According to the report's forecast, while conflict will remain the main driver of food crises in 2021, the economic fallout of Covid-19 will worsen acute food insecurity in fragile economies. 142 million people are projected to be in a food crisis, emergency, or famine, in 40 territories for which forecasts are available.
"High levels of acute food insecurity will persist in countries with protracted conflicts by limiting access to livelihoods and agricultural fields, uprooting people from their homes, and increasing displaced populations' reliance on humanitarian aid for their basic needs," the report stated.
The Global Network Against Food Crises says while humanitarian assistance is urgently needed, on its own, it is insufficient to deal with the scale of the present crises. The Network says the answer also lies in peace and a transformation of global food systems.
"A system that has the most vulnerable people continuing to bear the greatest burden of global crises is broken. We must take this opportunity to transform food systems, reduce the number of people in need of humanitarian food assistance, and contribute meaningfully to sustainable development and peaceful and prosperous societies," it said.
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UN Human Rights Council Agrees to Hold Hearing Focused on 'Racial Inequality and Discrimination' That Characterizes American Society
"The protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the fundamental racial inequality and discrimination that characterise life in the United States for black people."
Jun 15, 2020
The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an emergency hearing Wednesday at the request of 54 African nations on racism and police violence around the world and particularly in the U.S. as ongoing protests over the killing of black Americans by the police turned out hundreds of thousands around the country over the weekend.
"The protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the fundamental racial inequality and discrimination that characterize life in the United States for black people," Dieudonne W. Desire Sougouri, Burkina Faso's representative to the U.N. in Geneva, said Friday in a statement on behalf of the 54 countries.
The hearing will focus on "racially inspired human rights violations, police brutality against people of African descent, and the violence against the peaceful protests that call for these injustices to stop."
Protests over the killing of Floyd last month by four Minneapolis poloice officers quickly spread across the U.S. and the world. In their letter to the council calling for hearings, the African nations note that Floyd's killing was part of a longstanding pattern in the U.S.
As Al Jazeera reported Saturday, the letter follows a call from advocates in the U.S. that the world body hold hearings:
The call came after Floyd's family, along with the families of other victims of police violence and more than 600 NGOs this week called on the council to urgently address systemic racism and police impunity in the US.
Protests over the killing of Floyd and the ongoing problem of police racism and violence in the U.S. continued across the country over the weekend as Americans in multiple cities showed up in force for black lives. In Atlanta, the killing of Rayshard Brooks Friday night led to an explosion of frustration as demonstrators filled the streets Saturday and Sunday demanding justice, shutting down the interstate.
\u201cInterstate 85 and Interstate 75 in Atlanta right now after the death of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot by the police outside a nearby Wendy's.\u201d— Arash Markazi (@Arash Markazi) 1592103043
At least 60,000 people marched silently through Seattle Friday.
\u201cAn absolutely bananas timelapse of the Seattle Silent March via @kylealden\u201d— Jay Willis (@Jay Willis) 1592006848
Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles was packed.
\u201cThousands of people gathered in Hollywood, Los Angeles Sunday for an All Black Lives Matter march, organized by black members of the LGBTQ+ community. #BlackLivesMatter #march https://t.co/MMS0GvyG0b\u201d— ABC7 News (@ABC7 News) 1592170201
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers filled the plaza outside of the Brooklyn Museum to rally for black trans lives.
\u201cA massive turn out for the Black Trans Lives Matter protest in front of the Brooklyn Museum: \n\u201d— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1592159010
Wednesday's hearing will focus on the global epidemic of racism that affects black and brown citizens of multiple countries, but will focus on the U.S. specifically. The U.S. is not currently a member of the Human Rights Council, the Trump administration having withdrawn from the organization in 2018 over criticism of Israeli abuses in the occupied territories.
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Largely Driven by Climate Crisis, 9 Out of 10 Least-Reported Humanitarian Crises of 2019 Were in Africa
"Does a crisis really happen if it is not in the headlines? YES."
Jan 27, 2020
Out of the top 10 most under-reported humanitarian crises in the world last year--many of them climate-related--nine were on the African continent, according to a new report.
Madagascar had the least-reported crisis in the study--entitled "Suffering in Silence" (pdf)--released Tuesday by CARE International, as 2.6 million people in the country are affected by chronic drought which has left more than 900,000 in immediate need of food assistance.
\u201cDoes a crisis really happen if it is not in the headlines? \ud83d\udcf0\n\nYES. In 2019, over 50 million people suffered in silence \ud83c\udf0d\n\nCARE\u2019s new global report on the 10 most underreported #humanitarian crises of 2019 >> https://t.co/Ob8so9i96Y\n\n#SufferingInSilence #ForgottenCrisis\u201d— CARE International (@CARE International) 1580204238
Out of 24 million online media articles examined by CARE International, just 612 reports were about the humanitarian emergency in Madagascar--and the country was just the most extreme example of the international community's neglect of the world's second-most populous continent.
"In 2019, over 51 million people suffered in 10 crises away from the public eye," the report reads. "Although for the average person on earth, life is better today than ever before, around 2% of the global population (160 million people) will require $28.8 billion in humanitarian assistance to survive. This is a fivefold increase of needs since 2007."
With 80% of Madagascar's population engaged in agriculture, the climate crisis and resulting drought has caused damage to many families' livelihoods. The food shortages brought on by chronic drought conditions also led to Madagascar having the fourth-highest rate of malnutrition in the world, making it easier for diseases like measles to infect over 100,000 people in 2019.
\u201cThe hunger crisis in #Madagascar is completely off the media radar. \n\nYet over 916,000 people are in need of food aid. \n\n#SufferingInSilence REPORT >> https://t.co/Ob8so9i96Y\n\n#ForgottenCrisis @CAREMadagascar\u201d— CARE International (@CARE International) 1580207400
CARE International noted that millions of people in Africa are "suffering in silence" even as the climate crisis gains more international attention, thanks to grassroots climate activists like Greta Thunberg, Extinction Rebellion, and students all over the world--including across Africa--who have led climate marches over the past year.
"It is shocking to see how little media reporting there is about human suffering related to global warming in the South, the lack of political action to address this injustice, and solutions applied to ease the burden for communities."
--Sally Austin, CARE International"The increased public attention for the global climate crisis is encouraging, but we must ensure that the conversation is not limited to the Global North and much-needed transformations there," said Sally Austin, head of emergency operations for CARE International. "It is shocking to see how little media reporting there is about human suffering related to global warming in the South, the lack of political action to address this injustice, and solutions applied to ease the burden for communities."
Other crises in Africa that have been intensified by the climate crisis include Zambia's droughts, which left 2.3 million people in need of food assistance, and a mix of extreme drought and flooding in Kenya.
In southern Africa, where Zambia lies, temperatures are rising at two times the global rate. The pattern has contributed to a sharp drop in wheat and maize crops as well as in safe drinking water in much of the country.
\u201cHungry and forgotten: In Zambia, over 40 % of children under the age of five are stunted. \n\nRT to break the silence. \n\n#SufferingInSilence REPORT >> https://t.co/Ob8so9zJYw\n#ForgottenCrisis \n@care_zambia\u201d— CARE International (@CARE International) 1580215500
Daily life for many in Zambia illustrates what climate leaders mean when they warn that people in frontline communities--who have contributed the least to the climate crisis--are suffering the most.
"The drought has placed additional hardships and risks on women as they cope with the changing climate," the report reads. "For example, some women now report waking up as early as 3:00 am in order to be the first to collect the scarce water available and then spend all day searching for food. Many have resorted to collecting whatever wild fruits they can find to feed their families."
In Kenya, rainfall in 2019 was at least 20% below average, and as CARE International says, "When there is not too little rainfall, there is far too much."
"Heavy rains displaced tens of thousands of people during the fall months and destroyed farmland and livestock," the report reads. "This worsened an already dire food situation in the country."
\u201cA paradise for tourists, but also a forgotten crisis. Weather extremes put people on the edge of survival in #Kenya. \n\nOver 500,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition.\n\n#SufferingInSilence REPORT >> https://t.co/Ob8so9zJYw #ForgottenCrisis\u201d— CARE International (@CARE International) 1580225400
North Korea is the only country on CARE's list that isn't in Africa; other under-reported emergencies are taking place in Eritrea, Central African Republic, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and the countries of the Lake Chad Basin--made up of Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon.
None of the countries on the list were covered in more than about 9,000 media articles all over the world throughout 2019.
Armed conflicts are major drivers of humanitarian crises in several African countries. CARE's report notes that the climate crisis is worsening political and economic instability across the continent.
"We're seeing increasing linkages between the effects of man-made climate change and the longevity and complexity of humanitarian crises," said Austin. "From Madagascar to Lake Chad to North Korea, the majority of crises ranked in our report are partly a consequence of declining natural resources, increasing extreme weather events and global warming more broadly."
The report notes that three of the least-reported crises in the world are also on the United Nations' list of the least-funded international emergencies.
With this in mind, CARE says, media outlets and humanitarian groups can help to close the gaps by considering "reporting as a form of aid."
"Crises that are neglected are also often the most underfunded and protracted," the report reads. "With close links between public awareness and funding, it needs to be acknowledged that generating attention is a form of aid in itself. As such, humanitarian funding should include budget lines to raise public awareness, particularly in low-profile countries."
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