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Food Insecurity on the Rise



According to a report by the FAO, food insecurity has risen in the past 2 years, driven by conflicts and climate-shocks in vulnerable regions of the world. The number of malnourished people had been falling for more than a decade, but it has begun to rise since 2015. That number has risen from 777 million people in 2015 to 815 million people in 2016. The FAO report highlights that out of the 815 million people who are considered malnourished, 489 million live in countries that have ongoing conflicts. Conflict seems to particularly affect the nutrition of children as 75% of “stunted children under the age of 5” live in countries with ongoing conflict. One of the biggest groups at risk of food insecurity is populations that have been displaced, or refugees. The number of displaced persons doubled to 64 million from the period of 2007 to 2016. Many of these refugees flee to nearby countries that do not have enough resources to support them, and many suffer from lack of clean water, shelter, and food. As the figure below shows, there was a significant rise in violent conflict since 2010, which has destabilized multiple regions of the worlds and displaced millions of people.

             One of the countries that this FAO article focuses on is South Sudan, a region plagued by conflict and famine. According to the report, 4.9 million people (42% of the population) suffer from food insecurity and the conflict has displaced 1.9 million people. In some areas, food is used as a “weapon of war” and due to the ongoing conflicts, humanitarian aid cannot make its way into the most hard-hit areas. Other countries that have ongoing conflicts that have negatively impacted the food security of their populations are Yemen and Syria, with Yemen having 17 million people suffering from food insecurity and Syria having 6.7 million that are “acutely food insecure.” I really recommend checking out this report, which is short, easy to read, and includes interactive figures.
Questions to consider:
1)    What can the international community do to help populations suffering from food insecurity in areas of conflict (where it’s very hard to send humanitarian aid)?
2)    Do you think that food insecurity arises from conflict or does conflict arise from food insecurity? Or is it a combination of the two?

Source:
“How close are we to #ZeroHunger?”. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition/en/

Comments

  1. MalaysiaFebruary 19, 2018 at 7:36 PM

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  2. MalaysiaFebruary 19, 2018 at 7:37 PM

    Malaysia has experienced major food insecurity recently and acknowledges this huge issue that takes place throughout the world. Recently, Malaysia dropped 3.2 points in the GFSI (global food security index) ranking, making it one of the top ten countries of highest drops. Although Malaysia does not have major conflicts like areas in the Middle East which are constantly undergoing the effects of warfare. Nonprofit organizations such as Direct Relief can be used to aid areas of conflict. If the international community helps contribute to nonprofits, similar to Direct Relief, we can work towards securing food in areas of conflict.

    Food insecurity can be caused by conflict or conflict is the cause of food insecurity, and Malaysia believes it is a combination of the two. In some areas of conflict, groups will siege an area to prevent food from going in or out of the area as a strategy of war, but it costs thousands of innocent people their lives. In other areas, conflicts begin because of lack of food to go around, causing tension amongst groups. Either away, food insecurity is still a large issue at hand that must be handled immediately. To handle this, people must be empowered to work in the agricultural industry to help create a sustainable amount of food.

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