Today’s "Global Report on Food Crises,” led by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN), says that 258 million people across 58 countries are now experiencing acute hunger – 65 million additional people (up 34%) over last year.
Oxfam Global Food and Economic Security Lead, Emily Farr, said:
“For global hunger to rise for a fifth consecutive year in a world of plenty is a stain on our collective humanity. Decades of progress made to end poverty and hunger are now being fast reversed by conflict, economic shocks and climate change.
“Arms dealers, warlords, big polluters, and food monopolies are making the planet increasingly uninhabitable, driving more people from their homes and lands and wiping out the income of millions already struggling to put food on the table.
“In East Africa alone, one of the worst affected regions, climate induced drought and ongoing conflict have left over 36 million people in extreme hunger - nearly the entire population of Canada- up from 24 million last year. Over 85,000 people are already facing starvation. Families are being forced to eat dry leaves, beg, or have their girls married at young ages to survive.
“While the pandemic and the Ukraine war have made food and energy unaffordable for millions, 95 food and energy corporations made a whopping $306 billion in windfall profits just last year. This is a rigged economic system that exploits and starves the poorest and rewards the richest.
“We need an urgent and fundamental shift in our humanitarian system if we are to put the brakes on the speeding hunger crisis. Funds must be used to equip poor countries to prepare for and cope with reoccurring economic and climate shocks before they happen, and rich donors must immediately inject money to meet the UN appeal for response.
“But just “band-aid” funding will only temporarily delay the problem. We must do more in resolving conflict, inequality, and climate change. Warring parties must lower their guns. Rich polluting nations must cut their emissions. Governments must tax the rich and polluters to free funds for social protection and climate mitigation, to help vulnerable people cope with shocks.
“This is a moment in history that will judge whether we will prioritize our collective humanity over greed of a powerful few.”
/ENDS
Notes to the Editors
- The Global Report for Food Crises is an annual report published by The Food Security Information Network which is an international alliance of the United Nations, the European Union, governmental and non-governmental agencies working to tackle food crises together.
- Food insecurity figures for East Africa are based on IPC3 or above figures for November 2022-March 2023, including 6.6 million in South Sudan, 4.4 million in Kenya, and 5 million in Somalia. In addition, 20.1 million people in Ethiopia need food assistance as per the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023. Source: Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system analyses and the UN OCHA Humanitarian Response Plan for Ethiopia.
- The total population of Canada is 39,566,248 according to the latest estimate by Canada’s Statistics.
- Corporates profits figures are based on Oxfam’s “Survival of the Richest” report published January 2023.