Adetutu Sobowale The United Nations in a recent report has projected that acute food insecurity may worsen in magnitude and severity across 18 hunger “hotspots,” that include Nigeria. The report underscored the urgent need for assistance to prevent famine in Gaza and Sudan, as well as the worsening hunger crises in Haiti, Mali, and South Sudan. Furthermore, it warns about the continuous effects of El Niño and the impending risk of La Niña, which could lead to extreme climate events that disrupt both lives and livelihoods.
“Since the previous edition of the Hunger Hotspots report (October 2023), the Central African Republic, Lebanon, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zambia have joined Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia and Zimbabwe in the list of hunger hotspots, where acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further during the outlook period,” the report stated. The UN report also indicated that numerous hotspots were grappling with escalating hunger crises, emphasising the alarming compounding effect of simultaneous and overlapping shocks on acute food insecurity. It pointed out that conflict, climate extremities, and economic shocks were persistently pushing susceptible households into food crises.
The report cautioned that 2023 could potentially be the first year since 2010 to see a decrease in humanitarian funding compared to the previous year, although it still represented the second-highest level of funding ever for humanitarian ass.
