UN food agency: 45 million people on the edge of famine

[wjfox]

UN food agency: 45 million people on the edge of famine

8 Nov 2021

The United Nations food agency has said that the number of people on the edge of famine across 43 countries had risen to 45 million, as acute hunger spikes around the world.

The jump from 42 million people earlier in the year was largely down to a food security assessment that found another three million people facing famine in Afghanistan, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday.

“Tens of millions of people are staring into an abyss. We’ve got conflict, climate change and COVID-19 driving up the numbers of the acutely hungry,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley was quoted as saying.

“And the latest data show there are now more than 45 million people marching towards the brink of starvation,” he said after a trip to Afghanistan, where WFP is upping support for almost 23 million people.

“Fuel costs are up, food prices are soaring, fertiliser is more expensive, and all of this feeds into new crises like the one unfolding now in Afghanistan, as well as longstanding emergencies like Yemen and Syria,” he added.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/ ... ing-famine

[raklian]

UN food agency: 45 million people on the edge of famine

“Fuel costs are up, food prices are soaring, fertiliser is more expensive, and all of this feeds into new crises like the one unfolding now in Afghanistan, as well as longstanding emergencies like Yemen and Syria,” he added.

I think more frequent heat waves in that part of the world has something to do with it as well.

[caltrek]

UN food agency: 45 million people on the edge of famine

More on that situation:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/ ... starvation

Conclusion:

(Common Dreams) The WFP (United Nations World Food Program) says families facing acute food shortages are being forced to make "devastating choices to cope with the rising hunger."

"In Madagascar, where pockets of famine are already a reality, some are being forced to eat locusts, wild leaves, or cactus to survive," the agency reports.

According to WFP, the cost of averting famine globally is $7 billion. (WFP Executive Director David) Beasley recently noted that the 400 wealthiest Americans collectively got $1.8 trillion richer during the Covid-19 pandemic and that it would require less than 0.4% of that amount to prevent worldwide famine.

"Imagine that this was your little girl or your little boy or your grandchild about to starve to death, you would do everything you possibly could," he told BBC. "And when there's $400 trillion worth of wealth on the Earth today, shame on us that we let any child die of hunger."

[wjfox]

According to WFP, the cost of averting famine globally is $7 billion. Beasley recently noted that the 400 wealthiest Americans collectively got $1.8 trillion richer during the Covid-19 pandemic and that it would require less than 0.4% of that amount to prevent worldwide famine.

"Imagine that this was your little girl or your little boy or your grandchild about to starve to death, you would do everything you possibly could," he told BBC. "And when there's $400 trillion worth of wealth on the Earth today, shame on us that we let any child die of hunger."

Probably the biggest moral outrage in the world today.

[Ozzie guy]

I am probably repeating myself a million times but yeah a minimum of 15 million people die due to capitalism yearly from lack of food, water and basic healthcare alone.

Maybe I should be saying this in the containment thread instead I am not sure.