Acute food insecurity hits new highs globally

acute-food-insecurity-hits-new-highs-globally
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Countries already coping with high levels of acute hunger are particularly vulnerable to the risks created by the war in Eastern Europe

The number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent life-saving food assistance and livelihood support continues to grow at an alarming rate. This makes it more urgent than ever to tackle the root causes of food crises rather than just responding after they occur. This is a key takeaway from an annual report launched by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), an international alliance of the United Nations, the European Union, governmental and non-governmental agencies working to tackle food crises together.

The report focuses on those countries and territories where the magnitude and severity of the food crisis exceed the local resources and capacities. In these situations, the mobilisation of the international community is necessary.

The document reveals that around 193 million people in 53 countries or territories experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels in 2021. This represents an increase of nearly 40 million people compared with the already record numbers of 2020. Of these, over half a million people in Ethiopia, southern Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen were classified in the most severe phase of acute food insecurity Catastrophe and required urgent action to avert widespread collapse of livelihoods, starvation and death.

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