Yemisi Izuora
The head of the United Nations, UN food agency has issued a warning, saying that as the world is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, there may be food crises if measures are not taken.
It is also on the brink of a hunger pandemic that could lead to “multiple famines of biblical proportions” within a few months if immediate action isn’t taken.
World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that even before COVID-19 became an issue he was telling world leaders that “2020 would be facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.” That’s because of wars; locust swarms in Africa; natural disasters; and economic crises.
He said 821 million people go to bed hungry every night all over the world, 135 million more people are facing crisis levels of hunger or worse.
A new World Food Program analysis shows that as a result of COVID-19 an additional 130 million people could be pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of 2020.
He said WFP is providing food to nearly 100 million people on any given day; including about 30 million people who literally depend on us to stay alive.
Beasley, who is recovering from COVID-19, said if they can’t be reached, our analysis shows that 300,000 people can starve to death every single day over a three-month period; and that doesn’t include increased starvation due to the coronavirus.
He warned that in a worst-case scenario we could be looking at famine in about three dozen countries.
Beasley urged greater humanitarian access, coordinated action to deliver aid; an end to trade disruptions and accelerated and increased funding; including $350 million to set up a network of logistics hubs and transport systems to keep supply chains running worldwide.