While the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) is due to publish a report on the state of food security in the world on Monday, July 12, the NGO Oxfam reveals in a report made public Friday that the number of people in a famine situation has increased sixfold since the start of the pandemic.

"The number of people living in conditions of famine has increased considerably, reaching 521,814 people", one can read in the document, which is based in particular on figures of the UNO.

In addition, according to the NGO, in 2021, 155 million people, spread across 55 countries, are facing extreme levels of food insecurity.

This concerns 20 million more people compared to the year 2020. 

According to the FAO, acute food insecurity occurs when a person's life is threatened due to their inability to consume enough food.

Famine is the highest stage of food insecurity.

"If more than 20% of households cannot feed themselves, if the rate of malnutrition exceeds 30% and deaths multiply, we can no longer speak of 'emergency' humanitarian situation, but of 'famine'" , says Oxfam. 

Conflicts, the main cause of food crises 

Even if several reports already predicted for 2021 a worsening of food crises in the world, "the increase is really very significant, especially for people in conditions close to famine", assures France 24 Hélène Botreau, in charge of food security advocacy and agriculture at Oxfam France.

This alarming situation is explained by the "explosive cocktail of the three 'Cs: conflict, Covid-19 and the climate crisis", writes Oxfam in its report, going in the same direction as the conclusions of the report of the Global Network against food crises, a body bringing together major international organizations and NGOs

"The main factor in these major food crises is conflicts. Without conflicts, there would not be this kind of extreme problem", explained on France 24 Luca Russo, analyst at the FAO and worried about the situation in Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen and Syria. 

In its report published on May 15, the Global Network Against Food Crises identifies, in fact, ten countries where the largest number of people in acute food insecurity reside in 2020. Among them, eight are in the grip of war: Yemen , South Sudan, Sudan, Niger, Somalia, Chad, northern Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

In these countries, "war and insecurity have disrupted the circuits of access to food and the functioning of basic health and sanitation services, seriously affecting the nutritional status of the most vulnerable people, in particular women and men. children, ”the report wrote. 

According to figures from the Global Network Against Food Crises and cited in the Oxfam report, "the pandemic has plunged nearly 100 million people in 23 conflict-torn countries into critical food insecurity or beyond ". 

Droughts, floods and storms, three worrying climatic phenomena

These three factors are well known to observers and are not new.

But in recent months, the Covid-19 pandemic and its socio-economic consequences have added to these problems.

"Mass unemployment and severely disrupted food production have led to a 40% rise in world food prices, the largest increase in more than ten years," Oxfam recalls. 

Cyclone Amphan in India, floods in Chad, tropical storm Iota in Central America… In recent months, climatic hazards have increased, reducing access to food for populations.

Extreme weather events have plunged "nearly 16 million people in 15 countries into critical levels of food insecurity," Oxfam reports.

"Because of the drought, the land is drier and less fertile. This impacts the quality of yields and the nutritional quality of crops and increases prices because crops are reduced", explains Hélène Botreau.

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Read also: Madagascar hit by the first famine due to global warming, according to the UN

Floods and storms also have dire consequences, including mudslides and soil erosion.

"They destroy irrigation systems, agricultural infrastructure, crops, as well as seed and food storage," quotes the advocate. 

The consequences then have repercussions on the pastoral populations.

"These hazards lead to economic losses which are directly borne by the producers. However, in general, the latter are part of the poorest and marginalized communities," says Hélène Botreau. 

A joint declaration to fill the funding gap

Faced with these scourges, Oxfam asks governments to "fully fund the humanitarian appeal of the United Nations and support a global fund dedicated to social protection", as well as "to guarantee humanitarian access in areas of conflict and no longer use the hunger as a weapon of war ".

The G20 foreign ministers adopted a declaration at the end of June in Matera, southern Italy, the aim of which is to help eradicate famine.

But this ten-point text boils down to a series of observations and objectives without any binding value.

"If current trends continue, the number of people suffering from hunger could reach 840 million by 2030", warned the signatories, while the UN aims to eradicate hunger from here 2030. However, according to an FAO study, it would take between 39 and 50 billion dollars more per year to achieve this. 

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