A recent United Nations report warns that severe food insecurity is likely to intensify and spread across 18 critical areas, including Nigeria.
The report highlights the urgent need for aid to prevent famine in Gaza and Sudan, as well as alleviating the deteriorating hunger situations in Haiti, Mali, and South Sudan.
Additionally, it cautions about the lingering impacts of El Niño and the potential threat of La Niña, which may lead to extreme weather events that disrupt lives and livelihoods.
“Since the previous edition of the Hunger Hotspots report (October 2023), the Central African Republic, Lebanon, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zambia have joined Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia and Zimbabwe in the list of hunger hotspots, where acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further during the outlook period,” the report stated.
The UN report highlighted that various regions were facing worsening hunger crises due to multiple simultaneous shocks, stressing the concerning impact on acute food insecurity.
It noted that conflict, extreme weather events, and economic challenges were continually pushing vulnerable households into food emergencies.
The report warned that 2023 might see a decrease in humanitarian funding compared to the previous year, which could be the first time since 2010, despite remaining the second-highest level of funding ever for humanitarian aid.
The report further stated, “The daunting prospects highlighted in this report should serve as a wake-up call to all of us. We need to spearhead the shift from responding to crises after they occur to more proactive anticipatory approaches, prevention and resilience building to help vulnerable communities cope with upcoming shocks.
“Acting ahead of crises can save lives, reduce food shortages and protect livelihoods at a much lower cost than a not timely humanitarian response,” FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu mentioned.
The WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain said, on his part, “Once a famine is declared, it is too late – many people will have already starved to death. In Somalia in 2011, half of a quarter of a million people who died of hunger perished before famine was officially declared.
“The world failed to heed the warnings at the time and the repercussions were catastrophic. We must learn the lesson and act now to stop these hotspots from igniting a firestorm of hunger.
“We have proven solutions to stop these crises in their tracks, but we need the resources and the political will to implement them at scale before more lives are lost.”
The report further emphasized that ongoing conflict in Palestine is expected to further worsen the already catastrophic levels of acute hunger.
“Starvation and death are already occurring, accompanied by an unprecedented death toll, widespread destruction, and the displacement of nearly the entire population of the Gaza Strip,” the UN stated.
