United Nations — The United Nations Food Agency said that millions of people are falling into acute hunger due to hunger Iran warHe also warned that this would happen if the conflict escalated and oil prices remained high.
The World Food Program said an analysis conducted in three at-risk countries found that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 2.3 million in Afghanistan and 1.3 million in Sri Lanka are struggling to meet their basic food needs.
In March, the World Food Program predicted that 45 million people could be food insecure by the end of June. This will be in addition to the 318 million people around the world who already suffer from food insecurity.
“We remain committed to that prognosis,” Karl Skau, acting executive director of the World Food Programme, told UN reporters. “This is mainly because the link between energy and food prices is so tight in many places, and also because people in the poorest countries already spend all their money on food, so when food prices rise, they eat less.”
The World Food Program said in its report, which was distributed late Thursday, that its findings indicate that the Middle East crisis is generating “significant repercussions,” especially on food and fuel prices, and disrupting trade. The United Nations, based in Rome, said that these factors interact and quickly affect food security and livelihoods, especially in already vulnerable countries.
“These impacts are expected to intensify in the coming months, even if the crisis in the Middle East subsides,” the World Food Program said.
Skau pointed to other food-insecure hot spots in the world, including Sudan, Gaza, southern Lebanon, Yemen and Haiti.
The World Food Program has been forced to reduce aid to millions of people in need due to funding cuts, and Skau urged donors to step up aid, especially for Somalia and Afghanistan, “because the humanitarian consequences of not doing more will be enormous.”