• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Africa
  4. Hunger to kill one person in East Africa every 28 seconds: Oxfam
Africa

Hunger to kill one person in East Africa every 28 seconds: Oxfam

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 17 May 15:04

Oxfam expresses concern that the UK government may slash support for the East African food crisis, barely two years after brokering a pact to avoid famine at the G7 conference in Cornwall.

  • Dhicis Guray, an internally displaced Somali man, attends to the carcass of his dead livestock following severe droughts near Dollow, Gedo Region, Somalia May 26, 2022. (Reuters)
    Dhicis Guray, an internally displaced Somali man, attends to the carcass of his dead livestock following severe droughts near Dollow, Gedo Region, Somalia May 26, 2022. (Reuters)

The East African food crisis will reach a new apex in July, with one person dying of hunger every 28 seconds between now and then, Oxfam warned.

Drought caused by climate change, combined with continued violence and rising food costs, has left over 40 million people in East Africa suffering from acute hunger, an increase of over two-thirds from last year, with 85,000 people in South Sudan and Somalia on the verge of famine.

Parts of Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia have seen five consecutive failed rainy seasons, while South Sudan has experienced a fifth consecutive season of catastrophic floods, reducing people's capacity to cope.

Following the new escalation of violence in Sudan, an extra 2 to 2.5 million people are anticipated to face extreme food insecurity in the coming months. Six thousand refugees migrate to South Sudan every day, putting further burden on a country where 63% already face acute food insecurity, the highest percentage in the world.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 345 million people worldwide are now suffering severe food insecurity, with 43 million "one step away" from starvation.

Despite this, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it has lately been forced to slash food distribution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Palestine, with further cutbacks anticipated in Somalia and Chad. 

Conflict, climatic shocks, and consequent relocation continue to be the primary causes of world famine. Soaring food costs, exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict, have continued to raise the cost of living, with food inflation in Eastern Africa reaching 25.2 percent in March 2023.

Political failure and injustice 'killing people'

The World Food Programme advocated for a renewed emphasis on social safety, such as insurance plans and labor market laws, as well as for all children to get a healthy meal at school every day.

“We need to step-up assistance, especially when it comes to making our food systems more resilient,” said Cindy McCain, WFP’s executive director. “If we can prepare at-risk communities to handle future climate shocks, they won’t need emergency support the next time there’s a drought or flood.”

Oxfam also expressed concern that the UK government may slash support for the East African food crisis, barely two years after brokering a pact to avoid famine at the G7 conference in Cornwall. The next G7 conference will begin on Friday in Japan.

“The UK has gone from being a world leader in the fight against hunger to a laggard which is failing to live up to its own commitments,” said Magnus Corfixen, Oxfam’s humanitarian lead.

“People are dying not because the world lacks food or money but because of political failure and injustice. G7 countries are among those chiefly responsible for climate change, so the UK and others have a clear moral responsibility to support people in East Africa whose lives are being destroyed by a climate crisis they did not cause,” he added.

“Every day that goes by without action means more avoidable deaths. More than 250 people are likely to die of hunger in East Africa in the time it takes G7 leaders to tuck into their dinner on Friday,”  Corfixen concluded.

See next: The state of world hunger

  • food crisis
  • Climate change
  • famine
  • hunger
  • UK

Trending Now

All
Britain approves first new coal mine in decades

UK greenlights first coal mine in 30 years

Over 16 million need aid in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger

Over 16 million need aid in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger: Report

Most Read

Haaretz

Mossad agent killed in Italy part of anti-Iran mission: Israeli media

  • Europe
  • 3 Jun
US linguist Noam Chomsky, who was among 550 academics who signed the petition calling on Glasgow University to respect free speech (AFP)

Chomsky: EU will deindustrialize if it abides by US-run world order

  • Europe
  • 31 May
Singer Adele performs during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Calls for Adele to cancel her 'Israel' concert

  • Palestine
  • 31 May
In Ukraine, is the US facing its own Suez moment? Its decline as an imperial power has been developing over decades. It has won small wars (Panama, Grenada) but has lost the big ones.

America’s Suez moment?

  • Opinion
  • 30 May

Read this

All
A mother pushes a stroller in front of the Scholven coal-fired power station, owned by Uniper, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, March 28, 2022 (AP)
Europe

Rich nations owe poor countries $192 tln for climate crisis: Study

  • Today
Over 16 million need aid in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
Africa

Over 16 million need aid in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger: Report

  • 5 Jun
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a press conference at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on September 8, 2021 (AFP)
MENA

US trying to end what Iran is not even trying to start: nukes

  • 5 Jun
Daily Mirror accused of hacking Princess Diana's phone
Europe

Daily Mirror accused of hacking Princess Diana's phone

  • Today
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS