IGAD says number of food insecure countries risen by nearly 4 million since 2019
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The East African trade bloc, Inter-governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), says that an estimated 31.4 million people across its nine states have been classified as in crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3+) levels of acute food insecurity in 2020.
A press release by the east African organisation said the figure represents 20% of the global 155 million people that faced food insecurity and required urgent action in 2020.
"The 2021 projections point to a grimmer situation, where between 36.7 to 37.2 million people will likely face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), largely due to conflict, weather extremes, and persistent economic shocks including the socio-economic repercussions of COVID-19,” the release received by PANA in Khartoum said on Tuesday.
IGAD groups Ethiopia, Somalia, the Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda and Kenya.
The release said the food security situation was revealed during the launch of the regional focus on IGAD member states of the 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) that took place on Tuesday.
The report, the release said, was the culmination of a joint analysis led by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN), under the Global Network against Food Crises that provides a comprehensive regional picture of the food security and nutritional situation.
The report indicates that the number of food insecure people (IPC Phase 3+) in the IGAD region has steadily increased from 26.8 million in 2017, to 27 million in 2018, 27.6 million in 2019 (excluding Djibouti), and up to 31.4 million in 2020.
"With 20 percent, of the global number of highly food insecure people in 2020 resident in the IGAD region, short-term humanitarian interventions alone are not enough. There is a need for us to initiate a paradigm shift to a longer-term view that inspires us to come up with coherent, coordinated, and cost-effective development investments that target the root-causes of food crises in our region," Workneh Geneyehu, IGAD Executive Secretary, was quoted as saying.
He argued that with proper forwarding planning, drought does not need to turn into famine and that the region can avert the chances of families sleeping hungry.
“With the forecast for a drier than usual season from October to December 2021, we call on our IGAD Member State governments, other regional, international, and key stakeholders, to work together in the spirit of multilateralism and global brotherhood to build efficient, effective, inclusive and resilient food systems, to mitigate the effects of drought, fend off the possibility of conflict thus supporting durable peace for the people of our IGAD region," Workneh stressed.
He underlined that given the worrying trends in this year’s report, IGAD should continue concerted efforts that help support communities and individuals improve their food and nutrition security, and prevent them from falling into hunger.
“To do this, we need to support governments and communities to build resilient and sustainable agri-food systems. Improving the reach of extension services, peace building initiatives and market access, as well timely anticipatory and emergency humanitarian response to crises, must remain at the core of our collective response to build and protect farmers' resilience to shocks and crises,” said David Phiri, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Sub-regional Coordinator for Eastern Africa.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has meanwhile said that the East African region remains one of the most food insecure of the world, with one in every five hungry people globally located here.
Michael Dunford, WFP Regional Director for Eastern Africa argued that macro-economic shocks together with the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing conflict and drought in parts of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia have increased acute hunger far above levels previously experienced.
He added that these shocks do not just have immediate, short-term effects; they exacerbate prevailing food insecurity and undermine livelihoods and development gains that took years to build.
“We must continue to support vulnerable communities across the region and work with all stakeholders to address the root causes of conflict and hunger,” Dunford said.
-0- PANA MO/MA 21Sept2021
