(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Africa Hunger Crisis: more than 146 million facing hunger [1]
[]
Date: 2023-04
Last updated 22 March 2023
Learn how extreme hunger is affecting people across Africa
What are the causes of extreme hunger in Africa?
Communities across Africa including in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Somalia are facing the worst food crisis seen in 40 years. It's the worst crisis in decades - yet it's only just hitting the headlines.
Global factors such as ongoing climate change in Africa, the escalating conflict in Ukraine, inflation around the world and a surge in global food prices have caused devastating ripples across the globe.
But this extreme hunger is hitting great swathes of Africa in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel particularly hard. In Somalia alone, 7 million people are on the brink of famine, In the Baidoa and Burhakaba districts, growing numbers of children are already dying.
We are fast approaching a catastrophic situation. The IPC, which assesses hunger levels worldwide has predicted that parts of Somalia will reach famine levels between March and April 2023.
That means people will be at breaking point, having exhausted every avenue to try and feed their families.
Parents are being forced to skip meals so that their children can eat – sometimes not eating for days themselves. Children are being taken out of school to work to earn money, or to be sent to beg in nearby towns. We’ve heard tragic stories of families being forced to leave their home to find food, and having to leave elderly loved ones behind because they are too weak to face the long journey on foot to an unknown destination.
No one should be forced into making decisions like these. We know there is a way forward. These are resilient communities, but after back-to-back emergencies their fortitude is fading. According to the UN, 46 million people in Africa experienced hunger in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic – that’s the highest share of any continent in the world.
Other factors, such as year on year droughts in the horn of Africa, locust storms destroying crops, internal conflict in Ethiopia, and floods and droughts across the Sahel were already having a devastating impact on people’s lives, families, health, and livelihoods.
Communities in Africa face a race against the clock
146 million - the daily existence behind that number is bleak. But there is hope. In 2017, we pulled together to help avert catastrophe in the region, saving lives. Today, it's a race against the clock. We will not stop supporting communities and people in Africa, but we cannot do this alone.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.redcross.org.uk/stories/disasters-and-emergencies/world/africa-hunger-crisis-100-million-struggling-to-eat
Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/
