Tag Archives: food shortages

Food insecurity on the rise in South Sudan, Haiti

More than 6 million people in South Sudan and Haiti are facing food insecurity, United Nations agencies warned this week, including thousands who could soon face catastrophic shortages.

The World Food Programme (WFP) and two other U.N. groups issued the warning for South Sudan on Monday, saying that 4.8 million of the country’s residents are at risk of going hungry. That includes about 40,000 people who the agency warned “are on the brink of catastrophe.”

The WFP issued its own warning for Haiti on Tuesday, saying the El Nino weather pattern fueled a drought that has 3.6 million people facing food insecurity, double the total of six months ago.

In a joint statement, the WFP, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said the South Sudan situation was “particularly worrisome” because the country is about to enter its lean season, when food is the most scarce.

They warn about 1 in 4 people in South Sudan require urgent assistance.

A recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, a barometer for measuring food security, found 23 percent of South Sudan is at risk of “acute food and nutrition insecurity” in the first three months of this year. It said the majority of them live in the states of Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile, where ongoing violent conflicts have forced many from their homes.

The report indicated there was “overwhelming evidence of a humanitarian emergency” in some areas, noting some people were eating water lilies, and warned the situation would likely worsen as water dried up in the coming weeks. The report could not confirm if parts of the country were already experiencing famine, as fighting prevented researchers from accessing certain areas.

The report said the country is also grappling with the effects of a drop in the value of its currency, which sent prices surging. It said the price of Sorghum, a cereal grain, increased 11-fold in a year.

The agencies said it was important they be given the chance to supply aid to those in need.

“Families have been doing everything they can to survive but they are now running out of options,” Jonathan Veitch, the UNICEF representative in South Sudan, said in a statement. “Many of the areas where the needs are greatest are out of reach because of the security situation. It’s crucial that we are given unrestricted access now. If we can reach them, we can help them.”

The WFP is also looking to help Haiti.

According to the organization, the country has seen three straight years of drought and an abnormally strong El Nino weather pattern is threatening to spoil the country’s next harvest.

El Nino occurs when part of the Pacific Ocean is warmer than usual, creating a ripple effect that brings atypical and sometimes extreme weather throughout the world. It’s been blamed for creating heavy flooding in some regions and droughts in others, both of which can spoil harvests.

The WFP said some parts of the country lost 70 percent of last year’s crops, and approximately 1.5 million Haitians are facing severe food insecurity. Others face malnutrition and hunger.

Aid agencies call for funds to save lives in El Nino-hit countries

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An inadequate response to El Nino would put tens of millions of people at risk of hunger, water shortages and disease, a group of leading aid agencies said, calling on donors for funding to save lives in countries hit by the weather phenomenon.

The United Nations launched a record humanitarian appeal in December, asking for $20.1 billion to help 87 million people in 37 national and regional crises in 2016.

But some countries affected by El Nino, including Malawi, Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea and El Salvador, were not included in the appeal, the humanitarian agencies said.

The aid groups, including Oxfam and World Vision, said “urgently required” funding should go into disaster preparedness, resilience building and crisis response, which would save money in the future.

“According to the United Nations, every $1 that is invested in disaster preparedness and resilience now could save up to $7 in emergency relief if a disaster unfolds over the coming months,” World Vision’s El Nino response director, Kathryn Taetzsch, said in a statement.

El Nino – a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific – affects wind patterns and can trigger both floods and drought in different parts of the world, leading to reduced harvests.

Ethiopia is one of the hardest hit countries and is experiencing its worst drought in decades. Some 8.2 million Ethiopians – out of a population of nearly 100 million – need food aid.

In Malawi, some 2.8 million people are struggling to feed themselves.

In Asia, poor harvests caused by lower than average rainfall linked to El Nino have hit Papua New Guinea particularly badly.

Central America, particularly El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, along with Haiti and southeastern Brazil, have recorded below average rainfall this year, while heavy rains caused flooding in parts of Argentina and Peru.

According to the World Food Programme, an estimated 2.3 million people in Central America, mostly subsistence farmers, day laborers and their families, will need food assistance because of widespread damage to crops and rising food prices due to a prolonged drought exacerbated by El Nino.

The agencies said it was important to apply lessons learned from the 2011 Horn of Africa drought in which 258,000 died in Somalia alone. They cited a 2012 report which said that the response to the drought in Somalia was “too little, too late”.

“If the world acts now, we can help prevent disaster and suffering for millions of people – rather than waiting for people to start dying,” said Nigel Timmins, Oxfam International’s humanitarian director.

(Reporting by Magdalena Mis; Editing by Ros Russell)

At Least 10 Million Ethiopians Will Experience “Critical Food Shortages” in 2016

About 10.1 million Ethiopians — most of them children — will face “critical food shortages,” next year as the country grapples with its worst drought in half a century, Save the Children reports.

The international children’s advocacy group said in a news release this week that Ethiopia is currently experiencing its most devastating drought in 50 years, with the El Nino weather pattern to blame. The phenomenon occurs when a part of the Pacific Ocean is warmer than usual and has a far-reaching ripple effect that brings atypical weather throughout the world.

According to Save the Children, this year was the first time since 1989 that seasonal rains did not arrive in Ethiopia. With more than 80 percent of the country relying on that rainfall to produce the agricultural products they consume, many residents were at risk of going hungry.

The organization reports that 5.75 million Ethiopian children face food shortages, and 400,000 of them are at risk of severe malnutrition. The country’s population is about 95 million people, so data suggest more than 1 in 10 Ethiopians are at risk of the “critical food shortages” in 2016.

Save the Children reports northern and western Somalia are also affected by the drought, and some families in that country were venturing hundreds of miles as they tried to find water.

It’s expected that the emergency response to the drought will cost $1.4 billion, according to Save the Children. The Ethiopian government has already promised $192 million for relief efforts, though Save the Children said in a statement that additional assistance is “urgently needed.”

A United Nations group has warned this year’s El Nino is looking to be one of the three strongest in the past 65 years and may interact with climate change to create unprecedented effects.

Who Ya Gonna Call (Pt. 8)

The church wasn’t a fancy building. From the outside, it looked more like a school, complete with gymnasium, than it did a cathedral. Stan gathered his family’s belongings, and Christine hoisted Natalie onto her shoulder. They walked to the side door of the sanctuary and stepped inside. Although the electricity was still off in the area, the interior of the building was well lit by dozens of candles and kerosene lamps, flames flickering against the lightly painted walls, giving the large room a warm and cozy feeling. It reminded Stan of the Christmas Eve candlelight services he attended as a boy.

The room was filled with bustling people, some carrying backpacks, others carrying sleeping bags, still others toting boxes, a few teenagers even sporting guitars. The scene looked like a busy summer camp! Continue reading →