Rome: The World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Monday that the number of people teetering on the edge of famine in 43 countries has risen to 45 million as acute hunger spikes around the world.
According to the United Nations (UN) agency, this number has risen from 42 million earlier in the year and 27 million in 2019.
The increase is based on those who desparately living within the official hunger classification of IPC4 and above, in Afghanistan, alongside other increases in Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia, Angola, Kenya, and Burundi.
"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, and the latest data show there are now more than 45 million people marching towards the brink of starvation," said WFP Executive Director David Beasley in a press release on Monday.
"Fuel costs are up, food prices are soaring, fertilizer is more expensive, and all of this feeds into new crises like the one unfolding now in Afghanistan, as well as long-standing emergencies like Yemen and Syria," he added.
A vulnerability analysis across the 43 countries surveyed, shows families being forced to eat less, or skip meals entirely. Sometimes children are being fed, while parents sacrifice meals, and are forced to go hungry. In Madagascar, where pockets of famine are already a reality, some are being forced to eat locusts, wild leaves, or cactus to survive.
WFP estimates that the cost of averting famine globally now stands at $ 7 billion, up from some 6.6 billion, earlier in the year.
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