According to United Nations agencies and development groups, food insecurity increased globally in 2023 and caused acute hunger for around 282 million people, mostly in Gaza and Sudan.
According to a worldwide study on food crises released on Wednesday by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN), extreme weather conditions and economic shocks contributed to the surge in the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity, which increased by 24 million compared with 2022.
The assessment, written for an international coalition that includes UN agencies, the European Union, and governmental and non-governmental organizations, referred to the global picture as “bleak” for this year.
2023 marked the sixth year in a row that the number of individuals experiencing acute food insecurity has increased. Acute food insecurity is characterized by food deprivation that poses a threat to a population’s life or means of subsistence, regardless of its origins or duration.
The enlarged geographic coverage of the report and the worsening circumstances in 12 nations were major contributors to the increase observed last year.
Fleur Wouterse, deputy director of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization’s emergencies office, told the AFP news agency that there was a “marked deterioration in key food crisis contexts such as Sudan and the Gaza Strip” and that more geographical areas had experienced “new or intensified shocks.”
The head economist at the FAO, Maximo Torero, told Al Jazeera that access was just as important as resources when it came to delivering humanitarian aid. “If violence is the primary cause of starvation in today’s world, then access becomes more challenging since humanitarian agencies’ safety must be guaranteed, and the logistics become more expensive,” stated Torero.
“This is why today we are observing a significant gap in financing to be able to respond to these crises,” he added.
Brink of starvation in Gaza
A little over 700,000 people, including 600,000 in Gaza, were in danger of starving in the previous year; this number has subsequently increased to 1.1 million in the Palestinian region beset by conflict.
The number of people experiencing food insecurity has increased from 108 million to 282 million since the Global Network Against Food Crises released its inaugural report in 2016, according to Wouterse.
She further stated that the affected population proportion in the affected areas has increased from 11% to 22%.
Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Syria, and Yemen are all experiencing protracted, severe food crises.
In the report’s foreword, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated, “Children are starving to death in a world of plenty.”
“Almost 300 million people faced acute food crisis in 2023 due to war, climate chaos, and a cost of living crisis – combined with inadequate action,” he stated, adding that “funding is not keeping pace with need.”
Call for end of hostilities
For 2024, progress will depend on the end of hostilities, said Wouterse, who stressed that aid could “rapidly” alleviate the crisis in Gaza or Sudan, for example, once humanitarian access to the areas is possible.
Worsening conditions in Haiti were due to political instability and reduced agricultural production, “where in the breadbasket of the Artibonite Valley, armed groups have seized agricultural land and stolen crops”, Wouterse said.
The El Nino weather phenomenon could also lead to severe drought in West and Southern Africa, she added.
According to the report, situations of conflict or insecurity have become the main cause of acute hunger in 20 countries or territories, where 135 million people have suffered.
Extreme climatic events such as floods or droughts were the main cause of acute food insecurity for 72 million people in 18 countries, while economic shocks pushed 75 million people into this situation in 21 countries.
“Decreasing global food prices did not transmit to low-income, import-dependent countries,” said the report.
At the same time, high debt levels “limited government options to mitigate the effects of high prices”.
The situation improved in 2023 in 17 countries, including the DR Congo and Ukraine, the report found
