343 million people across 74 countries are experiencing acute food insecurity by WFP-FAO News Release   Dec. 2024   The World Food Programme (WFP) has called for some $16.9 billion to address the escalating global hunger crisis – or roughly what the world spends on coffee in just two weeks. The call follows the release of the agency’s Global Outlook 2025, which assesses global food security needs.   According to WFP, hunger continues to rise, with 343 million people across 74 countries experiencing acute food insecurity – a 10 per cent increase from last year.   This includes 1.9 million people who are on the brink of famine, with catastrophic hunger recorded in regions such as Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali.   Cindy McCain, WFP’s Executive Director, described the gravity of the situation: “Global humanitarian needs are rising, fuelled by devastating conflicts, more frequent climate disasters, and extensive economic turmoil. Yet funding is failing to keep pace.”   Funding shortfalls in 2024 forced WFP to scale back activities, often leaving some of the most vulnerable behind.   In Sub-Saharan Africa, over 170 million people face acute hunger, making the continent the focus of half of WFP’s funding needs for 2025.   Conflict in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Sahel, combined with climate extremes exacerbated by El Nino, has deepened the crisis.   Humanitarian operations are under significant strain, with rising displacement and reduced access to essential resources creating further challenges.   The Middle East is witnessing alarming levels of food insecurity, with Gaza, Syria, and Yemen among the hardest-hit regions.   In Gaza, 91 per cent of the population is acutely food insecure, and 16 per cent are living under catastrophic conditions. Syria and Yemen face similar challenges, with millions dependent on food assistance amid ongoing conflict.   In Asia and the Pacific, 88 million people are struggling with hunger caused by climate-related disasters. The region’s vulnerabilities have been compounded by extreme weather events, which have disrupted food systems and livelihoods.   WFP plans to enhance social protection systems and anticipatory action to mitigate the effects of these crises.   Latin America and the Caribbean are also severely affected, with over 40 million people food insecure and 14.2 million identified as needing immediate assistance.   WFP’s focus in the region includes strengthening food systems, building climate resilience, and supporting social protection programmes to stabilise vulnerable communities and prevent further deterioration.   The $16.9 billion funding appeal would allow the organization to feed 123 million of the hungriest people globally in 2025.   “We urgently need financial support from the international community to help the most vulnerable communities meet their most basic food security needs,” Ms. McCain emphasised.   http://www.wfp.org/publications/wfp-2025-global-outlook   Nov. 2024   Acute food insecurity is set to increase in both magnitude and severity across 22 countries and territories, according to a new United Nations report.   The report warns that the spread of conflict, particularly in the Middle East – coupled with climate and economic stressors - is pushing millions of people to the brink.   The report spotlights the regional fallout from the crisis in Gaza which has seen Lebanon engulfed in conflict and warns that the La Nina weather pattern could impact climates through March 2025, threatening fragile food systems in already vulnerable regions.   The report draws attention to famine in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur and famine risk in other areas of Sudan, the enduring risk of famine in Palestine (Gaza Strip) and the catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity in Haiti, Mali and South Sudan.   It warns that without immediate humanitarian action and concerted efforts to overcome severe access constraints and resolve ongoing conflicts, further starvation and death are likely.   ‘Hunger Hotspots – FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity’, issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), calls for urgent humanitarian action to save lives and livelihoods and prevent starvation and death in hotspots where acute hunger is at high risk of worsening between November 2024 and May 2025.   In total, 22 countries/territories are classified as “hunger hotspots”, where high levels of acute food insecurity are expected to further deteriorate due to the combination of conflict, economic instability, and climate shocks during the outlook period.   Without immediate intervention, including increased funding for food and livelihoods assistance, hundreds of thousands more people are expected to face starvation in the coming months.   “The situation in the five hunger hotspots of highest concern is catastrophic. People are experiencing an extreme lack of food and face unprecedented enduring starvation fuelled by escalating conflicts, climate crises and economic shocks. If we are to save lives and prevent acute hunger and malnutrition, we urgently need a humanitarian ceasefire, and to restore access to and availability of highly nutritious food, including reactivating local food production.   But this alone is not enough; we need longer-term stability and food security. Peace is a pre-requisite for food security. Without peace and stability, farmers cannot grow food, harvest or sustain their livelihoods. Access to nutritious food is not just a basic need – it is a fundamental human right,” said QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General.   “Worldwide, conflicts are escalating, economic instability is rising, and climate disasters are becoming the new norm. With more effective political and financial support, humanitarians can and will continue to implement proven solutions to address hunger and reduce needs over the long term,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director.   “It’s time for world leaders to step up and work with us to reach the millions of people at risk of starvation – delivering diplomatic solutions to conflicts, using their influence to enable humanitarians to work safely, and mobilizing the funding resources needed to address global hunger,” Director McCain added.   The effects of the La Nina weather pattern, anticipated to impact global climates from November 2024 through March 2025, are expected to further exacerbate a number of the food crises. The La Nina weather pattern is likely to cause devastating floods in countries such as Nigeria and South Sudan, while contributing to excessive dry conditions in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. These extreme weather events threaten already fragile food systems, putting millions of people at risk of rising hunger.   The report stresses that early action is essential to prevent the further deterioration of the crisis and avert mass hunger-related mortality.   The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme are urging world leaders to prioritize conflict resolution, economic support, and climate adaptation measures to protect the most vulnerable populations from the brink of famine.   Among the Key Findings   According to the report, Palestine, the Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali remain at the highest alert level and require the most urgent attention. Conflict is the primary driver of hunger in all these areas. All hotspots of the highest concern have communities already facing or at risk of famine or facing catastrophic conditions of acute food insecurity.   Chad, Lebanon, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen are hotspots of very high concern, with a large number of people facing critical acute food insecurity, coupled with worsening drivers that are expected to further intensify life-threatening conditions in the coming months.   Since the previous edition of the Hunger Hotspots report (June 2024), Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia and Niger have joined the list of hunger hotspots, alongside Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further during the outlook period.   http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/articles/hunger-hotspots-conflict-induced-famine-and-catastrophic-hunger-5-major-hotspots-alongside http://www.fightfoodcrises.net/hunger-hotspots http://www.wfp.org/news/new-un-report-warns-conflict-induced-famine-and-catastrophic-hunger-5-major-hotspots-alongside http://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/report-warns-of-conflict-induced-famine-and-catastrophic-hunger/en http://www.ipcinfo.org/ http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/hunger-hotspots-fao-wfp-early-warnings-acute-food-insecurity-november-2024-may-2025-outlook Visit the related web page
	Two million severely malnourished children at risk of death due to funding shortages by Victor Aguayo UNICEF Director of Child Nutrition and Development   Oct. 2024   Two million children suffering from severe wasting, also known as severe acute malnutrition, are at risk of death due to funding shortages for life-saving Ready-to-use-Therapeutic-Food (RUTF) to treat wasting, UNICEF warned today.   Levels of severe wasting in children under five years remain gravely high in several countries, fueled by conflict, economic shocks and climate crises.   “In the past two years an unprecedented global response has allowed the scale-up of nutrition programmes to contain child wasting and its associated mortality in countries severely affected by conflict, climate and economic shocks, and the resulting maternal and child nutrition crisis,” said UNICEF Director of Child Nutrition and Development Victor Aguayo. “But urgent action is needed now to save the lives of nearly two million children who are fighting this silent killer.”   It is estimated that funding shortages for RUTF are leaving nearly two million children at risk of not receiving treatment in the 12 hardest-hit countries. Mali, Nigeria, Niger and Chad are either already experiencing or imminently facing stockouts of RUTF, while Cameroon, Pakistan, Sudan, Madagascar, South Sudan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda could run out of stock by mid-2025.   The situation in Africa’s Sahel region is exacerbated by prolonged droughts, floods, and erratic rainfall. These conditions lead to food shortages and high food prices, resulting in higher levels of severe wasting.   For example, in Mali, over 300,000 children under the age of five are expected to suffer from severe wasting in 2024, yet nutrition programmes started running out of RUTF supplies at the end of July, meaning children will not receive the treatment they urgently need.   In Chad, the government declared a food and nutrition emergency in February. Over 500,000 children under five are projected to suffer from severe wasting this year, and provinces with large refugee populations are particularly affected. Around 315,000 children were treated for severe wasting between January and August. While the need for RUTF remains urgent, the country is projected to run out of it by the end of this month.   UNICEF is calling for US$165 million to fund therapeutic feeding, treatment and care for the two million children at-risk of death due to critical shortages of RUTF.   Children suffering from wasting, which is caused by a lack of nutritious and safe foods and repeated bouts of disease, are dangerously thin and their immune systems are weak, leaving them vulnerable to growth failure, poor development, and death.   “UNICEF has repeatedly warned that without sustainable prevention strategies and sustained financing, there would be RUTF stockouts in several countries, with the Sahel hardest hit by funding shortages,” Aguayo added. “We are now seeing that happening.”   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/nearly-two-million-severely-malnourished-children-risk-death-due-funding-shortages http://www.savethechildren.net/news/new-famine-report-final-warning-children-sudan http://www.savethechildren.net/news/2024-review-35-children-born-hunger-every-minute-2024   * IPC Acute Malnutrition Classification latest: http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/en/?maptype=77108 Visit the related web page
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