Famine is already on the doorstep of millions of families in 20 countries, two UN agencies warned on Tuesday in a report that calls for urgent action to avert rising hunger. Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria top the list, according to the Hunger Hotspots Report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme. The partners said more than 34 million people worldwide are already facing emergency levels of acute hunger, meaning they are just a step away from starvation. Several factors are behind the projected rise in acute food insecurity, with nations facing one or a mix of key drivers that include conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate extremes and locust outbreaks. Increasingly constrained humanitarian access to people in need is another concern.
By UN News. March 23, 2021.
