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Conflict-induced famine, probable starvation deaths in Gaza, Sudan in months: UN | Famine news

Conflict-induced famine, probable starvation deaths in Gaza, Sudan in months: UN | Famine news

The Palestinian territories, Sudan and South Sudan, as well as Mali and Haiti, have been identified as the five places most likely to experience deadly famine in the coming months, according to a new report by the UN food agency.

The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program said in a joint report Thursday that “acute food insecurity will increase in both magnitude and severity” in 22 countries and territories.

Rome-based UN agencies have warned that the spread of conflict, particularly in the Middle East – combined with climate and economic stressors – is pushing millions of people to the brink.

The report highlighted the regional impact of Israel’s war in Gaza, where Lebanon was also embroiled in conflict, and warned that the La Nina weather system could impact the climate until March next year, threatening fragile food systems in already vulnerable regions.

“Without immediate humanitarian efforts and coordinated international action to address severe access restrictions and to advocate for the de-escalation of conflict and insecurity, further cases of famine and loss of life are likely” in these places, it said.

It said Nigeria, Chad, Yemen, Mozambique, Myanmar, Syria and Lebanon were of “very high concern”. In these countries, conflict was either the main cause of famine or contributed to it.

UN agencies said the report, which focuses on countries most affected and where the situation is worsening, “does not represent all countries/territories experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity.”

The agencies reported that 2024 was the second year of decline in humanitarian funding, while 12 appeals experienced funding shortfalls of more than 75%, including Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria and Myanmar.

Palestinians gather to buy bread at a bakery during the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 28, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Palestinians gather to buy bread at a bakery in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 28, 2024. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

Gauze

The report said the escalation of hostilities in Gaza had raised fears that a “worst case scenario” of famine would materialize.

It was estimated that from November to the end of April, 41 percent of the population, or 876,000 people, would experience “extraordinary” levels of hunger.

Nearly 16 percent, or 345,000 people, will experience the most severe “catastrophic” level.

According to the report, 1.9 million people were displaced in Gaza as of mid-October.

Interactive_Gaza_hunger_Sept26

Sudan

In Sudan, hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict will face starvation in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, a report predicts.

In South Sudan, the number of people at risk of starvation and death is expected to almost double in the four months from April to July 2024 compared to the same period last year.

However, these numbers are expected to worsen from May next year due to the lean season between harvests.

The report found that more than one million people were affected by severe flooding this month in South Sudan, a chronically unstable country plagued by violence and economic stagnation.

Haiti and Mali

Agencies say continued unrest in Haiti due to gang violence, combined with an economic crisis and hurricane activity, mean that critical levels of hunger are likely to rise in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

The escalation of the conflict in Mali, where the UN withdrew its peacekeeping mission in 2023, is likely to worsen an already critical level.

Agencies said armed groups were imposing blockades on cities and roads, hampering humanitarian aid.

As the report states, the direct and indirect effects of the conflict on food insecurity are enormous and go far beyond the destruction of livestock and crops.

The conflict is forcing people to flee their homes, “disrupting livelihoods and incomes, limiting market access and causing price fluctuations and erratic food production and consumption,” the report said.

In regions of high concern, extreme weather caused by a possible recurrence of La Nina – a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that can produce heavy rains or worsen droughts and heatwaves – could exacerbate famine conditions, the report said.