Some 124 million people suffered
acute hunger in 2017, 11 million more than in 2016, according to
a report presented at the Rome headquarters of the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Thursday.
The increase is largely attributable to new or intensified
conflict and insecurity in Myanmar, north-east Nigeria, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Yemen, according
to the latest Global Report on Food Crises.
Prolonged drought conditions also resulted in consecutive
poor harvests in countries already facing high levels of food
insecurity and malnutrition in eastern and southern Africa said
the report prepared by a group of international partners,
including the European Union, the FAO and the United Nations
World Food Programme (WFP).
"The consequences of conflict and climate change are stark:
millions of more people severely, even desperately, hungry,"
said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.
"The fighting must stop now and the world must come together
to avert these crises often happening right in front of our
eyes.
"This report shows the magnitude of today's crises but also
shows us that if we bring together political will and today's
technology, we can have a world that's more peaceful, more
stable and where hunger becomes a thing of the past".
Acute food insecurity is when a person's inability to consume
adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate
danger.
This is even worse than chronic hunger, which is when a
person is not able to consume enough food to maintain a normal,
active lifestyle over an extended period.
A UN report released in October estimated that 815 million
people on the planet are chronically hungry.
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