When this extreme phase is declared, it means that people have already started dying from starvation.
The situation is also dire in Yemen, where the existing food insecurity combined with conflict and a deepening economic crisis could lead to a further deterioration of an already critical food security situation.Ĭatastrophe/famine is the most severe of five phases used by the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system to chart escalating degrees of food insecurity. Burkina Faso has registered the biggest increase with the numbers of desperately hungry people almost tripling compared to 2019, driven by increasing conflict, displacement and COVID-related impacts on employment and food access. It notes that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo there are 22 million people now estimated to be acutely food insecure - the highest number ever registered for a single country.
Red alert 1 countries drivers#
We have a stark choice urgent action today, or unconscionable loss of life tomorrow," she warned.Īll told, the joint report points to a total of 20 countries and contexts that are at "further risk of deterioration of acute food insecurity", with key drivers of hunger including expansion and intensification of violence, economic crises exacerbated by COVID-19 socioeconomic impact, weather extremes, transboundary threats like the Desert Locust and a lack of humanitarian access. The famine was declared in July, but most people had already died by May. "In 2011, Somalia suffered a famine that killed 260 ,000 people. If we wait to find that out for sure, people are already dead," said Margot van der Velden, WFP Director of Emergencies. When we declare a famine it means many lives have already been lost. Once again, we face the risk of famine in four different parts of the world at the same time. We need access to these populations to ensure they have food and the means to produce food and improve their livelihoods to prevent a worst-case scenario."
"We are deeply concerned about the combined impact of several crises which are eroding people's ability to produce and access food, leaving them more and more at risk of the most extreme hunger. "This report is a clear call to urgent action," said Dominique Burgeon, FAO's Director of Emergencies and Resilience. How the situation evolves in the highest risk countries will depend on conflict dynamics, food prices, and the myriad impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their food systems, rainfall and harvest outcomes, humanitarian access, and the readiness of donors to continue funding humanitarian operations.
Red alert 1 countries series#
The aim of the Hotspots report is to inform urgent action that can be taken now to avoid a major emergency - or series of emergencies - in three to six months from today. Another 16 countries are at high risk of rising levels of acute hunger. Parts of the population in the four hotspots of highest concern are already experiencing a critical hunger situation, with the report warning that escalations in conflict as well as a further reduction in humanitarian access could lead to a risk of famine.īut these four countries are far from being the only red flag on a world map that shows that acute food insecurity levels are reaching new highs globally, driven by a combination of factors, the report notes. The Early Warning Analysis of Acute Food Insecurity Hotspots - issued today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) - describes a toxic combination of conflict, economic decline, climate extremes and the COVID-19 pandemic that is driving people further into the emergency phase of food insecurity. These are Burkina Faso in West Africa's Sahel region, northeastern Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. 6 November 2020, ROME - The world has been put on a heightened famine alert with a new report by two United Nations agencies that contains a stark warning four countries contain areas that could soon slip into famine if conditions there undergo "any further deterioration over the coming months".
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