Acute food insecurity is expected to rise in volume and severity in 18 hunger “hotspots,” including Nigeria.
The United Nations revealed this in a just-released study.
The study underlined the urgent need for aid to avoid famine in Gaza and Sudan, as well as the escalating food crises in Haiti, Mali, and South Sudan.
It also cautions about the ongoing consequences of El Niño and the looming risk of La Niña, which might cause catastrophic climatic events that affect lives and livelihoods.
“Since the previous edition of the Hunger Hotspots report (October 2023), the Central African Republic, Lebanon, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zambia have joined Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia and Zimbabwe in the list of hunger hotspots, where acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further during the outlook period,” the report stated.
The research also claimed that multiple hotspots were dealing with rising hunger crises, underlining the serious compounding effect of concurrent and overlapping shocks on acute food shortages.
It emphasised that conflict, climatic extremes, and economic shocks were consistently driving vulnerable people into food crises.
The research noted that 2023 might be the first year since 2010 to experience a reduction in humanitarian spending compared to the previous year, although being the second highest level of investment ever for humanitarian aid.
According to FAO Director-General QU Dongyu:
“The daunting prospects highlighted in this report should serve as a wake-up call to all of us. We need to spearhead the shift from responding to crises after they occur to more proactive anticipatory approaches, prevention and resilience building to help vulnerable communities cope with upcoming shocks.
“Acting ahead of crises can save lives, reduce food shortages and protect livelihoods at a much lower cost than a not timely humanitarian response.”
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cc: Punch Ng
