January 31, 2018 – Hunger is on the rise again after seeing a reversal in the past few years. The majority of those suffering from hunger are living in conflict affected countries.

A new report from the World Food Program and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization states that the number of people globally who are food insecure rose from 777 million to 815 million last year.

Of those, almost 500 million are living countries affected by conflict including Afghanistan, DR Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

In Afghanistan, more people are being driven from their homes as a resurgent Taliban is now active in 80 percent of the country.

Conflict in Eastern DR Congo is the prime driver of hunger in the country with some 72 million people food insecure.

In Lebanon, not traditionally on the list of countries suffering from hunger, up to a third of Syrian refugees living in the country regularly go hungry.

The almost three year old war in Yemen has proven catastrophic for the population, where the humanitarian situation was already precarious before the Houthi takeover of Saana and subsequent air campaign by a Saudi-led coalition. Some 60 percent of the people in the Arab world’s poorest country are in need of food assistance.

Forty-five percent of South Sudanese need food aid. The world’s newest country has been beset by conflict since it declared independence in 2011. A complete and utter disregard for the people by political leaders is the prime cause for the lack of a political solution.

Four years of conflict has also brought hunger to Ukraine, where some 26 percent of the population, mostly in the country’s east, are in need of food assistance.

The full report is here.

– Denis Fitzgerald
On Twitter @denisfitz