Global famine looms due to pandemic, warns WFP chief

The world is at risk of a hunger pandemic, and it could reach biblical proportions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations.

Various countries have already been suffering from famine before the coronavirus escalated. But the arrival of the pandemic and the subsequent disruption of many livelihoods worsened the situation. Latin American nations, as well as eastern and central Asia, are particularly in danger of a hunger crisis.

Beasley noted that unless immediate and sizable action is taken, multiple famines could occur in the coming months and reach an epic scale.

“I must warn you that if we don’t prepare and act now – to secure access, avoid funding shortfalls and disruptions to trade – we could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months,” said Beasley in a statement to the U.N. Security Council.

Escalating hunger crisis

According to Beasley, the forecast for the 2020 scenario on food insecurity was already dire before the pandemic broke out. In war-torn countries such as South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, food insecurity and the displacement of families from their homes are rampant. In 2019 Yemen, for example, about 14.3 million people were classified as being in acute need of humanitarian assistance, while 3.3 million people were displaced from their homes.

Other areas around the world are also suffering from an ongoing economic crisis before the pandemic. These places include Lebanon and African nations such as Ethiopia, the Democratic Country of the Congo and Burkina Faso. Many of these countries are further affected by various disasters, such as the locust swarms in Africa and the recent port blast in Beirut, Lebanon.

In his statement, Beasley said that the situation is bound to get worse. The 2020 Global Report on Food Crises estimated that about 135 million people faced acute levels of hunger in 2019. This number could nearly double due to the pandemic, with the WFP estimating an additional 130 million people on the brink of starvation. At worst, about three dozen countries could experience famine. In fact, in 10 of these countries, more than one million people are currently on the verge of starvation.

In an interview with the news agency TASS, Beasley noted that the prevalence of hunger is expected to increase the most in Latin American nations. It is estimated that the region’s hunger prevalence can increase by as much as 269 percent. In comparison, the hunger prevalence in eastern and central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa can increase by up to 135 percent and 90 percent, respectively.

“All the data we have, including the WFP’s forecast that the number of people experiencing malnutrition will grow by 80 percent by the end of the year… points to a real disaster,” added Beasley.

These projections cover only the immediate effects of the pandemic – more long-term damage is expected to materialize in the coming years. According to Beasley, migrations will increase while social tensions are expected to grow and compound current conflicts. He also said that hunger “will likely affect those who didn’t experience it before.” (Related: The next chapter of this plandemic will be the FINAL LOCKDOWN for humanity… mass extermination, door-to-door medical kidnappings, forced inoculations and engineered famine.)

Ongoing humanitarian efforts

The organization is currently helping Rohingya refugees in Myanmar and people from Bangladesh, which is facing flooding problems that are worsened by the pandemic. They have already reached out to five million people in South Sudan, but an additional one and a half million needed food and other necessities due to the pandemic.

The organization also started assisting in Lebanon in the wake of the country’s economic crisis. After the August 4 explosion, Beasley visited Beirut to deliver the organization’s first wave of humanitarian aid. The WFP is helping rebuild the bombed port in addition to providing food supply.

With global hunger already high, Beasley urged international donors to provide additional funding to the organization’s humanitarian efforts. The WFP aims to assist 138 million people in 83 countries, which will require 4.9 billion dollars over the next six months. Beasley noted that in all of these countries, humanitarian help is the people’s last hope for survival.

Starvation.news has more on the current scenario on global famine cases.

Sources include:

StrangeSounds.org

WFP.org

News.UN.org

IFPRI.org

TASS.ru