UN: 258 million people faced acute food insecurity in 2022

ROME (AP) — More than a quarter-billion people in 58 countries faced acute food insecurity last year because of conflicts, climate change, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia's war in Ukraine, according to a report published Wednesday.

The Global Report on Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian organisations founded by the United Nations and European Union, said people faced starvation and death in seven of those countries: Somalia, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Yemen.

The report found that that the number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food aid — 258 million — had increased for the fourth consecutive year, a “stinging indictment of humanity's failure” to implement UN goals to end world hunger, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said.

While the increase last year was due in part to more populations being analyzed, the report also found that the severity of the problem increased as well, “highlighting a concerning trend of a deterioration.”

Rein Paulsen, director of emergencies and resilience for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, said an interplay of causes was driving hunger.

They include conflicts, climate shocks, the impact of the pandemic, and the consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine which has had an impact on the global trade in fertilisers, wheat, maize, and sunflower oil.

The impact has been most acute on the poorest countries that are dependent on food imports. “Prices have increased (and) those countries have been adversely affected,” Paulsen said.

He called for a “paradigm shift” so that more funding is spent investing in agricultural interventions that anticipate food crises and aim to prevent them.

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