This story is cross-posted from the IFPRI website and was originally written by Sara Gustafson.
The world’s humanitarian assistance and spending needs have more than doubled over the past decade, growing by around 127 percent. Around 40 percent of that went to the food and agriculture sectors. Conflict and climate shocks have led to an increase of people in need of humanitarian aid to fulfill basic daily food needs. According to the third Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC 2019), released on April 2, an estimated 113 million people across 53 countries experienced levels of acute hunger that required urgent humanitarian assistance in 2018. While this number is down from the 2017 figure of 124 million people, it remains unacceptably high. The report attributes the slight drop in the total number of acutely hungry people to lower impact of global climate-related shocks in 2018 than in 2017, when the El Niño phenomenon impacted weather patterns across many regions of the world. Nevertheless, climate change-driven weather events remain a significant threat for many countries around the globe.
The Global Report on Food Crises is prepared by 15 leading global and regional organizations and released annually by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN), led by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and IFPRI. The report provides the latest estimates of severe hunger worldwide and at the country level, together with an analysis of the key drivers behind current hunger trends. The report also points the way towards solutions that can rebuild lives and livelihoods in communities around the world. This helps humanitarian and development organizations to better coordinate to address the root causes of food crises.
As in the previous year, in 2018 the main drivers of acute hunger and food crises were persistent conflict and adverse weather events. Twenty-nine million people, the majority in Africa, were pushed into acute food insecurity in 2018 as a result of climate and natural disasters. Eight countries, namely Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, and northern Nigeria accounted for two-thirds of the total number of people facing acute food insecurity. An additional 10.2 million people were pushed into acute food insecurity as the result of economic shocks; they were located primarily in Burundi, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. While not part of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) assessment, the report also notes the worrisome rise in severe food insecurity in Venezuela resulting from the country’s economic collapse and hyperinflation.
Conflict played a clear role in acute food insecurity in 2018. Approximately 74 million people facing acute hunger were located in 21 countries and territories affected by conflict or civil unrest. The highest number of these people—around 33 million—lived in 10 countries in Africa, while over 27 million lived in seven countries in Western Asia and the Middle East, and 13 million lived in three countries in South and Southeast Asia. A little over 1 million lived in Eastern Europe. Conflict and insecurity continued to cause mass displacement as well. As of June 2018, there were over 70 million forcibly displaced people worldwide.
The report also found high levels of acute and chronic child malnutrition in areas struck by food crises.
The GRFC also provides a short-term forecast of food insecurity in 2019. Analysts expect Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, and northern Nigeria to remain among the world’s most severe food crises, with large segments of the populations at risk of falling into Emergency (IPC/CH Phase 4) levels of acute food insecurity. Several regions, including parts of Southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (including Central America), will likely be severely impacted by climate shocks that will reduce agricultural production and increase food prices. Forced migration and growing refugee populations are also expected to continue to place a strain on host countries, particularly in Bangladesh, Syria, and Venezuela.
The report calls for increased collaboration to end conflicts, empower women, feed and educate children, improve rural infrastructure, and reinforce social safety nets in order to address the root causes of food crises caused by man-made shocks such as conflict and civil unrest. Investments in agricultural development and social safety nets will also help create a buffer against climate- and weather-driven disasters. In order to meet these needs effectively, improved data collection, analysis, and sharing is necessary. This will help governments, development organizations, and aid agencies not just respond to ongoing food crises but also identify drivers of potential future crises, allowing for a more targeted, proactive stance.
The Global Report on Food Crises also provides a country analysis of Malawi and outlines the country’s high burden of humanitarian needs. Based on the report even during a good year (2014/2015) 1.3 million people needed food assistance, rising to 6.7 million during the El Niño of 2015/2016. Over 80 percent of Malawians are smallholder farmers that practice rain-fed agriculture, which makes them highly vulnerable to climate and other shocks. Many households lack the resources to cope with and recover from consecutive shocks, which significantly erodes their resilience and further increases their vulnerabilities.
The report notes that in Malawi approximately 100,000 children under five years are acutely malnourished, with 35,000 affected by severe acute malnutrition. Only eight percent of children ages 6–23 months consumed a minimum acceptable diet for growth and development. Although stunting has fallen rapidly in the last decade, stunting rates remain high in Malawi, with 37 percent of children 0–59 months classified as moderately or severely stunted. Factors contributing to these rates are numerous and multifaceted and include low levels of maternal education, child morbidity, lack of sanitation, lack of dietary diversity in under-fives, and poor access to healthcare.
The Global Report on Food Crises outlines some of the challenges that Malawi is facing. Strategies, such as Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III (MGDS III) 2017–2022 provide a comprehensive framework to meet these challenges. While some progress has been made, concerted action is necessary to implement the MGDS III and other Government of Malawi strategies, if the Sustainable Development Goals are to be achieved by 2030.
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Click here to download the 2019 Global Report on Food Crises. (10,7 MB)
