Famine often starts in rural areas and must be prevented in rural areas, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in a report on hunger in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, collectively one of the world’s largest food crises in 70 years. Some 20 million people in the four nations are at risk of famine, a figure that could grow to 30 million if there is no additional action, said FAO.
Eighty percent of the 20 million people at risk of famine rely on agriculture for a living, said the FAO in an appeal for funds for emergency aid to help cultivators and grazers “kick-start food production” with crop and vegetable seeds, fishing kits and dairy kits. “We must invest now in pulling people back from the brink…Agriculture cannot be an afterthought,” said FAO. “Conflict and drought are forcing people to abandon their homes and their lands. As agricultural seasons are repeatedly missed and livelihoods abandoned, the humanitarian caseload builds and the number of people on the bring of famine rises.”
More than two-thirds of Yemen’s population struggle to feed themselves, “one of the worst hunger crises in the world,” said the FAO. An estimated 17 million Yemenis are severely short of food. In South Sudan, six million people are listed as severely food insecure. “Some 45,000 people in parts of Unity State and in areas of Greater Jonglei are currently living in famine conditions,” it said. Some 3.2 million people are severely food insecure in Somalis and 5.1 million people in northeastern Nigeria also are severely food insecure.”
The FAO said $173 million has been pledged toward its goal of $295 million for emergency livelihood aid in the four counties.