The United Nations (UN) World Food Program (WFP) has just warned that 783 million people go to bed hungry every night amid an ever-increasing need for food relief.
Speaking before the UN Security Council on 14 September, WFP Executive Director Ms Cindy McCain said that due to lack of money, the agency was forced to cut food rations for millions of people and that the numbers could not stop there. . According to Ms McCain, a series of simultaneous and long-running crises continue to overwhelm global humanitarian needs while WFP’s budget dwindles. WFP officials said the funding shortfall of more than 60% in 2023 is the largest in the agency’s 60-year history.
Earlier, WFP said on 12 September that due to funding shortfalls, the agency must continue to reduce the scale of operations, which would put an additional 24 million people at risk of emergency hunger in the next 12 months, a 50% increase. There is an increase of million. .% compared to the current level. According to UN News, in the immediate future, lack of funding has forced WFP to reduce its operations in most of the countries in which it is present, notably Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Hot spots like Syria, Somalia, and South Korea. Sudan… For example, in Afghanistan, about 10 million people have not received support from WFP since the beginning of the year. Due to reduced operations, WFP will provide assistance to only 3 million people each month from October. According to Reuters, as one of the people assisted by WFP, Mr. Baba Karim (45 years old, lives in Kabul – Afghanistan) does not. Worry about your future life after this support ends.
Mr Baba Karim (left) and his son at home in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 3. Photo: Reuters
WFP estimates that every 1% cut in food aid risks pushing more than 400,000 people into emergency hunger. Ms McCain stressed that if WFP does not receive the support it needs, the world will surely see more conflict, instability and famine. WFP leaders believe the only way out of this crisis is to fund emergency activities to provide food to the hungry, while investing in long-term solutions that address the root causes of famine. In addition, Mrs. McCain stressed the importance of public-private partnerships in the United Nations’ humanitarian activities. According to him, now is the time to enlist the help of business leaders to find smart solutions to the root causes of poverty, thereby reducing the need for humanitarian relief in the long term.
WFP currently works in 79 countries and the agency estimates that more than 345 million people will face severe food insecurity in 2023. This number is a significant increase from approximately 200 million people in early 2021 (the time before the COVID-19 pandemic spread). WFP cites several reasons for this increase, including the economic impact of pandemics and conflicts, extreme climate, rising fertilizer and food prices…
Concern about food supply in Asia
According to the forecast released on September 15 by HSBC Bank (UK), rice prices have reached the highest level since 2008. The price of Thailand’s export rice – considered the global reference price – has surged. Has reached more than US$600/ton. Nearly 50% compared to the same period last year.
Mr Frederick Newman, a leading expert at HSBC, said this is a worrying issue because – unlike tomatoes or onions – these are short-lived crops, so even if prices rise, they will return to normal quickly. – Rice prices may remain high now. Unexpected floods and droughts in many parts of the world lead to crop failures, affecting supplies and increasing prices. The fact that India, the major rice exporter, restricts exports of many types of rice to stabilize domestic prices makes supply more difficult.
“Memories of the food price spike in 2008 in Asia still run deep. At that time, rice prices rose sharply in some economies and had a rapid impact on consumer markets. Governments of many countries in the region hurried to ensure supplies. “Demand will increase, which will increase prices not only of rice but also of other essential grains such as wheat” – the forecast said, with information on global rice imports in market terms. Consumption has almost doubled in the last 25 years. “This means that any disruption to the economy now will have a much larger contagion effect than in the past,” Mr Newman warned.
Malaysia and the Philippines are the two Asian economies most dependent on imported rice, followed by South Korea and Taiwan (China); Other easily affected economies include Indonesia, Hong Kong (China) and Singapore.
sea pearl
