Report: Yemen among 58 countries faced acute food insecurity last year‏‏

More than a quarter-billion people in 58 countries faced acute food insecurity last year due to conflicts، climate change، the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine، according to a report published Wednesday.

People in seven of those nations—Somalia، Afghanistan، Burkina Faso، Haiti، Nigeria، South Sudan، and Yemen—faced starvation and death، according to the Global Report on Food Crises، an alliance of humanitarian organisations established by the United Nations and the European Union.

The report's findings، according to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres، are a "stinging indictment of humanity's failure" to carry out the organization's objectives to end world hunger. It found that the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity and needing urgent food aid، or 258 million، had increased for the fourth year in a row.

While the report found that the severity of the issue increased as well، "highlighting a concerning trend of a deterioration،" the increase from the previous year was partially attributable to more populations being analysed.

Rein Paulsen، director of emergencies and resilience for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization، said an interplay of causes was driving hunger. They include conflicts، climate shocks، the impact of the pandemic and consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine that has had an impact on the global trade in fertilizers، wheat، maize and sunflower oil.

The impact has been most acute on the poorest countries that are dependent on food imports. “Prices have increased (and) those countries have been adversely affected،” Paulsen said.

He called for a “paradigm shift” so that more funding is spent investing in agricultural interventions that anticipate food crises and aim to prevent them.

“The challenge that we have is the disequilibrium، the mismatch that exists between the amount of funding money that’s given، what that funding is spent on، and the types of interventions that are required to make a change،” he said.

Acute food insecurity is when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.