The Global Report on Food Crises for 2020, released by the United Nations yesterday, stated that about 135 million people in 55 countries affected by conflict and climate problems were on the brink of starvation in 2019.

This number is the largest in four years, when the report to be submitted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Program to the Security Council began to be released.

And it seems that Africa last year paid again the price of "acute food insecurity", which affected 73 million people, more than half of the continent's population.

Among the countries most affected by this scourge are South Sudan (61%), Yemen (53%), and Afghanistan (37%), in addition to Syria, Haiti, Venezuela, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and the northern part of Nigeria.

"Conflicts have always been the main driver of food crises in 2019, but extreme weather conditions and economic shocks are becoming more important," the report said.

These conclusions were reached prior to the spread of the "Covid-19" epidemic, and did not take into consideration its potential effects on the most vulnerable countries.

The report pointed out that the 55 countries covered by these food crises "have a very limited, and perhaps no, ability to face the health and economic repercussions" of this crisis.

He added that "more than half" of 77 million people face acute food insecurity in countries where conflicts are "concentrated in the Middle East and Asia."

The report's authors pointed out that it counted an additional 22 million people in countries or regions compared to the previous report, but by comparing the 50 countries included in the 2019 and 2020 reports, it turns out that the number of individuals affected by crises "increased from 112 million to 123 million people."

On the other hand, the United Nations World Food Program said yesterday that the number of people exposed to severe food shortages may double this year to reach 265 million, due to the economic repercussions of the "Covid-19" epidemic.

It is expected that the decrease in revenues from tourism, remittances, travel and other restrictions related to the outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic will push some 130 million towards extreme hunger this year, adding to about 135 million in this category.

"(Covid-19) represents a potential catastrophe for millions already living at stake," said Aref Hussein, chief economist and director of research, evaluation and oversight at the World Food Program.

Covid-19 poses a potential catastrophe for millions already living at stake.

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Arab countries are among the 10 countries most affected by the scourge of food insecurity.

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One million people face acute food insecurity in countries experiencing conflict.