The number of people on the verge of famine in 43 countries has reached 45 million as acute food insecurity has increased around the world, the World Food Program warned on Monday.
The jump from 42 million at the start of the year to 45 million people at risk of hunger was seen thanks to a food insecurity assessment that found another three million people now facing famine in Afghanistan , according to the UN agency headquartered in Rome.
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“
Tens of millions of people are on the brink.
Conflict, climate change and Covid-19 have increased the number of people in acute famine
, ”said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.
“
The latest data shows that more than 45 million people are on the brink of famine,
” said the WFP official after a trip to Afghanistan, where the World Food Program is helping nearly 23 million people.
"
Fuel prices are rising, food prices are skyrocketing, fertilizers are more expensive, all of these are fueling a new crisis like the one now plaguing Afghanistan, as well as long-standing emergencies like Yemen and in Syria,
”he added.
"Devastating choices"
The cost of preventing famine worldwide is $ 7 billion, up from $ 6.6 billion at the start of the year, but it must be taken into account that the mechanisms traditional funding sources are overwhelmed.
Families who face acute food insecurity are forced to "
make devastating choices
", marrying underage children, removing them from school or feeding them with locusts, leaves or cacti, according to the report. PAM.
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Press reports from Afghanistan report "
families forced to sell their children in a desperate attempt to survive,
" the UN agency warns.
Numerous droughts in Afghanistan combined with an economic collapse have severely affected families, while 12.4 million people in Syria do not know how to get their next meal, more than at any time during this conflict that started ten years ago, according to WFP.
Situations of acute famine are observed in Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia, Angola, Kenya and Burundi, according to WFP.