{"id":212378,"date":"2020-08-22T13:31:23","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T13:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=212378"},"modified":"2020-08-25T07:41:11","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T07:41:11","slug":"without-quick-action-covid-19-will-create-a-global-hunger-crisis-by-the-end-of-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=212378","title":{"rendered":"Without quick action, Covid-19 will create a global hunger crisis by the end of 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin Clarke — America Magazine.org Aug 11, 2020<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Women carry sacks of food airdropped by the World Food Programme and distributed by the NGO Oxfam in Padding, near Lankien, Jonglei, South Sudan in 2017. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

As Covid-19 continues to stalk the globe, food insecurity in vulnerable societies has begun to rise. Guatemalans have been advised by the government to signal that they need food by walking to the nearest main road and waving a white flag. According to Bill O\u2019Keefe, the executive vice president for mission and mobilization at Catholic Relief Services<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, C.R.S. teams frequently encountered those makeshift distress signals along Guatemala\u2019s roadways this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

A hunger crisis, predicted to get much worse by the fall, is already beginning in Guatemala because of the loss of income caused by pandemic lockdowns and the related disruption of food production and distribution systems. Even before Covid-19 struck, Somalia was contending with drought and a locust infestation that decimated crop yields. The pandemic has also disrupted global shipping, an acute threat to a nation that is largely dependent on food imports. Hunger in Somalia, Mr. O\u2019Keefe fears, is likely to get much worse. \u201cCovid comes on top of other things that are going on; and in the most fragile places, where this breakdown in food systems is happening, there are already serious problems,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Women, children, elderly people, Indigenous populations and migrants will be among those suffering the most.<\/span><\/p>\n

Food insecurity has been on the rise for years even before the pandemic, according to researchers at the United Nations World Food Program, because of conflict, climate change and economic downturns. Now they report that at least 25 countries around the world face acute food insecurity because of Covid-19.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the greatest concentration of need is in Africa, according to the Early Warning Analysis of Acute Food Security Hotspots<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, compiled by the W.F.P. and the U.N.\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization, countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia also face dangerous levels of food insecurity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThree months ago at the U.N. Security Council, I told world leaders that we ran the risk of a famine of biblical proportions,\u201d said David Beasley, W.F.P.\u2019s executive director, speaking to the press on July 17. \u201cOur latest data tell us that since then, millions of the world\u2019s very poorest families have been forced even closer to the abyss. Livelihoods are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate, and now their lives are in imminent danger from starvation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMake no mistake,\u201d he warned. \u201cIf we do not act now to end this pandemic of human suffering, many people will die.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The number of acutely food-insecure people could increase from an estimated 149 million pre-Covid-19 to 270 million<\/strong><\/span><\/a> before the end of the year if life-saving assistance is not provided quickly, W.F.P. officials said. U.N. officials are seeking $5 billion from donor states to reach up to 138 million people with food assistance, an effort that represents the biggest mobilization in the organization\u2019s history.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to other U.N. estimates, up to 6,000 children<\/a> could die every day from preventable causes before the end of the year as a result of pandemic-related disruptions to essential health and nutrition services.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Charles Owubah, the chief executive officer of Action Against Hunger, urged a dramatic response to the looming crisis. \u201cThe world must act now to help the most vulnerable both from Covid-19 itself but also from the secondary impacts of Covid-19,\u201d he said, commenting in an email. \u201cCommunities could be pushed beyond the brink; we\u2019re concerned not only about Covid-19 itself, but the pandemic\u2019s secondary effects that could increase poverty and hunger to levels we have not seen for decades.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAcutely food insecure\u201d may sound like bloodless bureaucratic jargon, but behind the expression lurks profound human suffering. Mr. O\u2019Keefe explained that W.F.P. officials are trying to sound an alarm as accurately and comprehensively as possible. The expression is meant to describe broad hunger conditions that could mean anything from outright starvation in some nations to chronic, gnawing hunger that can contribute to social and personal breakdowns.<\/span><\/p>\n

In practical terms, he said, acute food insecurity means the inability to produce or purchase enough food to meet daily dietary needs. \u201cThat means having to skip meals. It means going to bed hungry; it means relying on a less diverse diet, on less expensive staples. It means having to sell your livestock and other productive assets; it means selling your future to survive now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The world\u2019s hungry, he said, will be increasingly susceptible to a variety of short- and long-term health and developmental threats, including depressed immune systems (a special concern during the pandemic) and, among chronically undernourished children, stunted growth and thwarted brain development. The impact could be permanent on children and catastrophic on adults, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pandemic has already led to a spike in food prices in Guatemala and other states with high rates of food insecurity. Because of the coronavirus, \u201cmany people who rely on seasonal labor have been unable to get those jobs,\u201d Mr. O\u2019Keefe said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost two billion workers\u2014two-thirds of the world\u2019s labor force\u2014are employed in the informal economy, according to the U.N.\u2019s International Labor Organization. Those workers typically fall outside national unemployment relief policies and now face an 82 percent decline in income because of lockdowns and other restrictions propelled by the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remittances from workers in the United States have traditionally been a lifeline to their relatives in Central America; but with many of those U.S.-based family members unable to work because of Covid-19 restrictions, that crucial income stream has dried up, he added. As a result, farmers in Guatemala, for example, have been selling cattle and productive assets that may put food on their table now but will mean greater impoverishment by the next growing season.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.N. officials predict that women, children, elderly people, Indigenous populations and people on the move\u2014refugees, displaced people and migrants\u2014will be among those suffering the most by the end of the year. According to the W.F.P. report, \u201cThe urban poor living in densely populated areas, and households depending on the informal sector (both rural and urban), are expected to be among the hardest hit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The report adds: \u201cFor children from already impoverished and food-insecure households, the negative effects of the crisis, including extended school closures and missing out on school meals, could have lifelong effects and further perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty and inequality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the pandemic continues, at times locking out millions around the world from work, donor funding for humanitarian and development needs has fallen across the board, according to Mr. O\u2019Keefe. Americans may be too distracted by their own crises related to the pandemic to worry about its impact overseas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany donors have told us they have been moved to help vulnerable communities outside the United States, since we are all in this pandemic together,\u201d said Dr. Owubah. \u201cBut we don\u2019t know what the fundraising landscape will look like later this year or next year. Given the continuing economic crisis in the United States, many individual donors are already stretched thin or are focused on their own families and communities. At the same time, given projections for rising poverty and hunger, we know that the world\u2019s poorest communities will need even more support in the months to come.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At the level of government response, Mr. O\u2019Keefe has been gratified to see that international humanitarian aid has been part of the emergency response packages negotiated in the U.S. Congress as the impact of the pandemic on the global economy became clear. In addition, the European Union has mobilized nearly 16 billion euros in a comprehensive overseas response to the pandemic, and more aid is expected.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the beginning of the crisis in March, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development have committed more than $1.5 billion<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in emergency health, humanitarian, economic and development assistance; but much more money has to be raised quickly to match the need, according to humanitarian groups. The U.N. has been seeking $10 billion in emergency funding to confront Covid-19; by the end of July just $2.5 billion had been pledged or received.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. O\u2019Keefe and other development and relief advocates are pressing for an additional $20 billion<\/a><\/strong><\/span> in overseas aid in the latest coronavirus relief package under discussion in Washington to assist the more than 70 percent of countries the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes as ill-equipped to handle the coronavirus. \u201cI think most members of Congress understand that if we don\u2019t deal with the pandemic outside our borders, we are never going to be able to deal with it inside our borders,\u201d Mr. O\u2019Keefe said. \u201cThat\u2019s just the nature of a pandemic; this is going to cross borders.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to succeed here if we don\u2019t succeed everywhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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