Food insecurity is soaring across 20 hunger hotspots where conflict, economic shocks, natural hazards, and limited humanitarian access are putting millions of lives at risk, according to a new UN report.

People in South Sudan, Yemen, and the northern parts of Ethiopia and Nigeria, are at particular risk, according to the Hunger Hotspots report, published jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme.

It calls for action to “prevent starvation, death and the total collapse of livelihoods“ as more and more people slide towards the ‘catastrophe’  phase (IPC5) of the global standard for food insecurity. 

“WFP urgently needs flexible, non-earmarked funding contributions, such as its Immediate Response Account, that allow us to respond immediately and avert catastrophic consequences, “ said Margot van der Velden, the organization's Director of Emergencies. “Funding our operations in the world's hunger hotspots will be critical this year, or there is the very real risk that more people will slip into famine.” 

She added: “As humanitarian actors, we are faced with overwhelming challenges. We must scale up operations in challenging conditions, we must sustain critical assistance in complex crises, and we must be prepared to respond quickly to sudden disruptions and unexpected emergencies.”  (ILKHA)