WFP: People facing acute food insecurity reach 345 million worldwide

The number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide has more than doubled to 345 million since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict and climate change, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday.

“We see now 10 times more displacement worldwide because of climate change and conflict and of course they are inter-linked. So we are really worried about the compounding effect of COVID, climate change and the war in Ukraine,” Corinne Fleischer, the WFP’s regional director, told Reuters.

In the Middle East and North Africa, the impact of the Ukraine crisis has had massive repercussions, Fleischer said, underlining both the import dependency of the region and its proximity to the Black Sea.

“Yemen imports 90% of its food needs. And they took about 30% from the Black Sea,” Fleischer said.

Iraq needs about 5.2 million tons of wheat but only produced 2.3 million tons of wheat, she said. The rest had to be imported, which cost more.

Despite state support, severe drought and recurring water crises are endangering the livelihood of smallholders all over Iraq, she said.