- The 155 million people include 1, 33, 000 people who needed urgent food to prevent widespread death from starvation.
- The 2021 report focuses on 55 Countries which account for 97% of humanitarian assistance.
- GRFC is an initiative of the Global Network against Food Crises (GNFC) facilitated by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) and its 16 global and regional partners.
Key Points
i.Two-thirds of the people facing acute hunger were in 10 countries – Congo, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Northern Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and Haiti.
- 1, 33, 000 people facing starvation, death were in Burkina Faso, South Sudan and Yemen.
- Countries in Africa were highly affected by acute food insecurity – 98 million i.e 2 out of 3 people facing food insecurity were in Africa.
ii.60-80% of the 155 million people facing food shortage depend on agriculture.
iii.In terms of people facing a crisis, emergency or famine levels, 5 countries – Afghanistan, Haiti, Lesotho, Yemen and Zimbabwe had 40-45% of their populations at those levels.
iv.Factors driving food insecurity are
- Conflict (Main Driver) – pushing almost 100 million people into acute food insecurity (up from 77 million in 2019.)
- Economic Shocks – it pushed over 40 million people in 17 countries.
- Weather extremes – over 15 million people, down from 34 million.
Stunting & Wasting in Children
- In 2020, 75.2 million children under 5 years old living in 55 countries were ‘stunted’ in growth
- 15.8 million were ‘wasted’, or underweight for their height.
Predictions for 2021
- COVID-19 pandemic and large-scale economic crises are expected to extend food-crisis situations in 2021.
- Around 155, 000 people are set to face ‘catastrophe/famine’ through mid-2021, of which 108, 000 will be in South Sudan & 47, 000 in Yemen.
Global Network against Food Crises (GNFC)
It is an initiative launched by the European Union, Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN & World Food Programme (WFP) during the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit (WHS).
- It was set up to increase the resilience of vulnerable people’s livelihoods to food crises.
Recent Related News:
i.On March 5, 2021, According to ‘Food Waste Index Report 2021’ compiled by the UNEP & WRAP found that around 931 Million Tonnes (1.03 Billion Tons) of Food waste was generated in 2019.
About Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Director-General – QU Dongyu
Headquarters – Rome, Italy
About World Food Programme (WFP)
Executive Director – David Beasley
Headquarters – Rome, Italy