WFP seeks $16.9 bn to respond to global food needs next year

Penang, 27 Nov (Kanaga Raja) — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is calling for US$16.9 billion to assist 123 million of the hungriest people in 2025.

In launching its flagship 2025 Global Outlook, WFP said that the sum of US$16.9 billion that it needs is roughly what the world spends on coffee in just two weeks.

According to WFP, 343 million people across 74 countries are acutely food insecure, a 10 per cent increase from last year and just shy of the record reached during the pandemic.

The country contexts in which WFP operates are becoming more complex, making reaching people in need more difficult and costly, it said.

A stream of global crises driven by escalating and overlapping conflicts, climate extremes and economic shocks has brought hunger to record levels, generating an unrelenting demand for humanitarian assistance, it added.

Yet, funding shortfalls in 2024 forced WFP to scale back activities, often leaving some of the most vulnerable behind.

“Global humanitarian needs are rising, fuelled by devastating conflicts, more frequent climate disasters, and extensive economic turmoil. Yet funding is failing to keep pace,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain.

She said: “At WFP, we are dedicated to achieving a world without hunger. But to get there, we urgently need financial and diplomatic support from the international community: to reverse the rising tide of global needs, and help vulnerable communities build long-term resilience against food insecurity.”

According to the WFP’s Global Outlook, food insecurity remains at highly concerning levels, with 343 million people estimated to be acutely food insecure across the 74 countries with WFP operational presence and where data is available.

The number of acutely food-insecure people is nearly 200 million above pre-pandemic levels, it said.

Immediate life- and livelihood-saving assistance is required for 44.4 million people estimated to be in Emergency or worse levels of acute food insecurity in 2024.

Most alarming is the surge in the number of people facing catastrophic hunger, reaching unprecedented levels in this century, said WFP.

“Up to 1.9 million people are estimated to be on the brink of famine in 2024, primarily in Gaza and Sudan, but also pockets of the populations in South Sudan, Haiti and Mali.”

WFP noted that famine has been confirmed in Zamzam camp in northern Sudan, which shelters hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Conflict remains a key driver of food insecurity: in 2024, 65 percent of acutely food-insecure people live in fragile or conflict-affected situations, said the WFP report.

During the last decade, the number of armed conflicts has sharply increased by more than 50 percent, it added.

Armed violence is a key driver in 14 out of 16 hunger hotspots where food insecurity is expected to deteriorate in the coming months.

Recent and protracted conflicts have indeed been driving needs to catastrophic levels in Sudan, Gaza, Haiti, Mali and South Sudan, WFP pointed out.

Other hunger hotspots where conflict is a key driver include Burkina Faso, Chad, the Horn of Africa, Lebanon, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Syria and Yemen.

By mid-2024, 122.6 million people had been forcibly displaced, representing a doubling compared to 10 years ago, said the report.

One in four developing economies – and over half of the economies facing fragile and conflict-affected situations – will still be poorer by the end of this year than they were on the eve of the pandemic, it noted.

WFP also said that global public debt is at a record high, and amid high interest rates, debt servicing costs have sharply increased.

Half of the world’s low-income countries are either already in debt distress or at high risk of debt distress.

“At the same time, food inflation remains stubbornly high in many places, diminishing purchasing power and putting access to food at risk for millions of households. Over the last four years, food prices have more than doubled in 26 countries globally.”

Extreme weather events continue to exacerbate hunger and food insecurity, caused by a mix of lasting impacts from previous events and recently arising challenges, WFP further said.

The 2023-24 El Nino event has disrupted global weather patterns and agricultural production, with Southern Africa experiencing a regional-scale drought that led to major failures in national crop production, it added.

Maize production dropped by 50 percent in Zimbabwe and Zambia, depleting national and regional reserves, with similar impact observed in Malawi.

The severe impact on food security – following the resulting scarcity and high market prices – will be felt until early 2025, with more than 30 million people in need of food assistance, said the report.

Moreover, it said eastern Nigeria, northern Ghana and parts of Cameroon are experiencing drought conditions. In South America, drought-fuelled wildfires have ravaged vast land areas.

Subsistence farmers’ production in Central America, particularly Guatemala, has been adversely impacted by irregular rainfall and extremely high temperatures.

While a La Nina event has not yet been declared, La Nina-like patterns are already in place across most areas where WFP works, said the report.

“Of most concern are drought conditions that could develop across the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan and other Central Asian areas, and drier-than-average conditions in the Middle East and Northern Africa region, affecting crop production and pasture resources.”

In addition, WFP said vast areas of the Sahel, South Sudan, Sudan and several Asian countries have experienced exceptional flooding, affecting 12 million people.

Moreover, ongoing record-high ocean temperatures are maintaining heightened concerns for hurricane formation and severe storms in Central America and the Caribbean.

The gap between needs and available resources remains considerable, with only 38 percent of the 2024 Global Humanitarian Overview funding requirements received as of November, said the WFP report.

“This is forcing a scaling back of assistance and a refocusing of efforts on the most severe needs. The funding crisis, along with persistent access constraints, forces WFP and its partners to leave some of the most vulnerable behind.”

At the regional level, WFP said in Asia and the Pacific, where 88 million people struggle under the devastating effects of acute hunger, it will require US$2.5 billion to respond to crises and enhance further shock-responsive social protection and anticipatory action initiatives.

With over 170 million acutely insecure people, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 50 percent of WFP’s projected funding needs in 2025, it said.

The conflict in Sudan – where famine was confirmed in one location in August – is driving massive displacement with a spillover into neighbouring countries.

Conflict is also pushing millions into hunger in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Sahel, while extreme climate events exacerbated by the El Nino phenomenon are deepening food insecurity across the Southern Africa region.

WFP said that it needs US$8.4 billion to support its operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In the Middle East, North Africa and the Eastern Europe region where conflict is also causing food insecurity, WFP said it requires US$4.9 billion for its operations.

It said that 40.8 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean are experiencing food insecurity, with 14.2 million being prioritized for WFP assistance.

WFP will need US$1.1 billion to support vulnerable populations and scale up interventions to strengthen food systems, climate resilience and social protection in this region. – Third World Network