In Somalia, \u201chundreds of thousands are already facing starvation today with staggering levels of malnutrition expected among children under five,\u201d warned the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLarge-scale deaths from hunger\u201d are increasingly likely<\/strong> in the east African nation, the UN agencies continued, noting that unless \u201cadequate\u201d help arrives, analysts expect that by December, \u201cas many as four children or two adults per 10,000 people, will die every day\u201d. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In addition to the emergency already unfolding in Somalia, the UN agencies flagged 18 more deeply concerning \u201chunger hotspots\u201d, whose problems have been created by conflict, drought, economic uncertainty, the COVID pandemic and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Humanitarians are particularly worried for Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen, where a record 970,000 people \u201care expected to face catastrophic hunger and are starving or projected to starve or at risk of deterioration to catastrophic conditions, if no action is taken\u201d, the UN agencies said. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This is 10 times more than six years ago, when only two countries had populations as badly food insecure, FAO and WFP noted, in a new <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>report<\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Urgent humanitarian action is needed and at scale in all of these at-risk countries \u201cto save lives and livelihoods\u201d and prevent famine, the UN agencies insisted.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n According to FAO and WFP, acute food insecurity around the world will worsen from October to January. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In addition to Somalia, they highlighted that the problem was also dire in the wider Horn of Africa, where the longest drought in over 40 years is forecast to continue, pushing people \u201cto the brink of starvation<\/strong>\u201d. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Successive failed rains have destroyed people\u2019s crops and killed their livestock \u201con which their survival depends\u201d, said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, who warned that \u201cpeople in the poorest countries\u201d were most at risk from acute food security that was \u201crising fast and spreading across the world\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Vulnerable communities \u201chave yet to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are suffering from the ripple effects of ongoing conflicts<\/strong>, in terms of prices, food and fertilizer supplies, as well as the climate emergency,\u201d the FAO chief continued. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a9 WFP<\/span><\/p>\n Women feed their children at a nutrition site in South Sudan.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n He insisted that \u201cwithout a massively scaled-up humanitarian response\u201d to sustain agriculture, \u201cthe situation will likely worsen in many countries in the coming months\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Echoing that message, WFP Executive Director David Beasley appealed for immediate action to prevent people dying.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe urgently need to get help to those in grave danger of starvation in Somalia and the world\u2019s other hunger hotspots<\/strong>,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is the third time in 10 years that Somalia has been threatened with a devastating famine,\u201d Mr. Beasley continued.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe famine in 2011 was caused by two consecutive failed rainy seasons as well as conflict. Today we\u2019re staring at a perfect storm: a likely fifth consecutive failed rainy season that will see drought lasting well into 2023.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In addition to soaring food prices, those most at risk from acute food insecurity also have \u201cseverely limited opportunities\u201d to earn a living because of the pandemic, the WFP chief explained, as relief teams brace for famine in the Somali districts of Baidoa and Burhakaba in Bay region, come October. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Below the \u201chighest alert\u201d countries – identified as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen – the joint FAO-WFP report notes that the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, the Sahel, the Sudan and Syria are \u201cof very high concern\u201d<\/strong>, in addition to newcomers the Central African Republic and Pakistan. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Guatemala, Honduras and Malawi have also been added to the list of hunger hotspot countries, joining Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Humanitarian assistance is crucial to save lives and prevent starvation, death and the total collapse of livelihoods, FAO and WFP insist, while highlighting chronic access problems caused by \u201cinsecurity, administrative and bureaucratic impediments, movement restrictions and physical barriers\u201d in 11 of the 19 hotspot countries.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This includes \u201call six of the countries where populations are facing or are projected to face starvation\u2026or are at risk of deterioration towards catastrophic conditions\u201d, they said. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nComplex roots<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
Harsh winter harvest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
FAO\u2019s QU calls for massive aid scale-up<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\nPerfect storm of problems<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
Barriers to aid<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Mothers](\"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production+Library\/21-09-2022_WFP_Yemen.jpg\/image1170x530cropped.jpg\" "\\"Mothers")