Long-term solutions needed to address hunger

SGGP 11/21/2023 07:39

On November 20, the Global Food Security Summit opened in London, UK in the context of food security being seriously challenged due to the consequences of epidemics, natural disasters and conflicts.

People in the Gaza Strip receive food aid. Photo: AP

Nearly 90 million people across Central and East Africa are facing unprecedented levels of hunger and more are facing severe levels of food insecurity, the Inter-Agency Working Group on Central and East Africa (IAWG) said, driven by drought, floods, conflict and soaring global food prices.

Many of these crises are increasingly neglected and most humanitarian appeals in the region remain underfunded, leaving millions facing destitution or worse, said Peter Burgess, Director of the IAWG. More than 11.5 million children under the age of five in the region are acutely malnourished, of whom 2.9 million will require treatment for life-threatening severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), people in the Gaza Strip are suffering from food insecurity due to the relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza. According to FAO, nearly 60% of households in Gaza are food insecure. FAO is committed to addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of the people in the Gaza Strip but all sides must immediately cease fire. Because the right to food is a fundamental right.

Despite growing food needs, funding to address the hunger and malnutrition crisis will remain insufficient in 2023. More worryingly, humanitarian assistance budgets are projected to decline by up to 50% in 2024. This crisis requires immediate international action and a coordinated response to mitigate the impact of hunger and provide interventions.

These include: Urgently scaling up humanitarian assistance to communities in need and investing in long-term resilience and recovery, particularly in climate-vulnerable and conflict-affected countries; using bilateral and multilateral diplomatic influence to ensure all parties to armed conflict fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular supporting UN Security Council Resolution 2417, to help reverse the global escalation of conflict-induced hunger.

Also at the conference, host Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK will establish a new science centre where experts will develop climate-resilient crops and identify risks to the global food system. The UK also sees food insecurity as one of the most pressing global challenges. The UK is providing humanitarian funding worth up to £100 million to the countries most affected by food insecurity: Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Afghanistan, Malawi, Somalia...

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