17 Million People Worldwide Suffer From Food Insecurity

In 2016, 108 million people suffered “Emergency” levels of food insecurity, a 35 percent increase compared to the previous year. Earlier this month, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released the 2017 Global Report on Food Crises, which highlights the highest number of food insecure people across the world.

There are 17 million people in need of urgent assistance in Yemen, 7 million in Syria and almost 5 million in South Sudan. Other countries identified in the report include Somalia (2.9 million), northeast Nigeria (4.7 million), Burundi (2.3 million) and Central African Republic (2 million). Yemen is also the number one country at risk of famine with food shortages affecting its entire population

Internal and external displacement caused by conflict and climate-related disasters prolong food insecurity and place a burden on host countries and communities. Drought, caused by El Nino, has damaged agricultural livelihoods in eastern and southern Africa and forecasts state that food insecurity will continue to worsen in these regions, as well as having a widespread impact on neighbouring countries.

“Hunger reduction requires an integrated approach, and needs to include: public and private investments to raise agricultural productivity; better access to inputs, land, services, technologies and markets; measures to promote rural development; social protection for the most vulnerable, including strengthening their resilience to conflicts and natural disasters; and specific nutrition programmes, particularly to address micronutrient deficiencies in mothers and children under five.” – FAO, 2017

The Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) is hosting its 3rd annual Aid & Development Asia Summit to look into latest innovations, policies and initiatives aimed at supporting community resilience and food security in Southeast Asia. Taking place on the 14-15 of June 2017, the Summit will provide a unique opportunity to network with senior humanitarian and development professionals involved in boosting agricultural productivity and transformation. These include Dr Tin Htut, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation, Myanmar, Sridhar Dharmapuri, Senior Food Safety and Nutrition Officer, FAO, and Dr Dindo Campilan, Director for Asia, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) as well as many others. For more information, visit http://asia.aidforum.org

AIDF has also released an infographic on agriculture, food security and nutrition in Myanmar. To view the infographic, click here

Image source: SciDev