Wars in Yemen, northeastern Nigeria and South Sudan have devastated households and driven up prices, while a drought in east Africa has ruined the agricultural economy.
More than 20 million people - greater than the population of Romania or Florida - risk dying from starvation within six months in four separate famines, U.N. World Food Programme chief economist Arif Husain says.
"It’s almost overwhelming to comprehend that in the 21st century people are still experiencing famines of such magnitude. We’re talking about 20 million people, and all this within the next six months, or now. Yemen is now, Nigeria is now, South Sudan is now," he said.
Humanitarian aid is at record high levels but demand is growing even faster, creating a huge gap. "In northeast Nigeria we’re feeding more than 1 million people and just a few months ago we didn’t even have an office there," Husain said.
In Nigeria's Borno state, where millions of people have fled Boko Haram militants, there is simply no commerce, no markets and no movement, leaving people dependent on emergency aid.
"They survive outside in camps, 50 degree Centigrade temperatures, living in huts with metal sheets on top, with one water point, with communal kitchens, with one meal per day," Husain said.
"And there’s no end in sight.”
By Tom Miles
No comments:
Post a Comment