Rome, March 18 (ANI): The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran risks driving global hunger to an all-time high. The agency said the combined effects of extreme weather, conflict and localized famines have already left about 320 million people acutely food insecure.
WFP officials said the war, now in its third week, is sending shockwaves through food and fuel markets that could place staple foods beyond the reach of families well outside the region. Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told a Geneva press conference that if the Middle East conflict continues through June and oil prices stay above USD 100 a barrel, price rises could push an additional 45 million people into acute hunger.
Skau said the crisis intensifies pressures on the most vulnerable, who lack any margin to absorb higher living costs. The conflict began on February 28 after a U.S. and Israeli military operation against Iran, followed by Iranian strikes on targets in Israel and Gulf states and the involvement of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
On the ground in Lebanon, the WFP is delivering hot meals and bread to tens of thousands and urgently needs USD 77 million to maintain operations for the next three months. Skau said the agency was already facing a “perfect storm” before the new conflict, with hunger at its worst in recent memory and acute food insecurity having tripled over five years.
At the same time, the WFP experienced a 40 percent cut in resources last year as donor funding dwindled. The agency is “stretched to the limit,” Skau said, and the Middle East fighting is making relief work far more expensive: fuel costs have surged, supply chains are longer, shipping costs are up 18 percent, and transport fuel is much costlier.
The conflict also threatens agricultural stability far from the front lines. Disruptions to fertiliser exports via the Strait of Hormuz pose a major risk to planting seasons in sub-Saharan Africa, including Somalia and Kenya. In Somalia, Skau warned there are clear signs of impending famine after two consecutive droughts; the WFP is unable to assist about 700,000 people due to funding shortages.
Funding gaps have forced life-saving cuts elsewhere: food rations have been reduced for people in famine conditions in Sudan, and in Afghanistan—the site of the world’s worst malnutrition crisis—the WFP can reach only one in four acutely malnourished children. “People are dying in Afghanistan due to the lack of assistance,” Skau said, urging countries to provide more humanitarian resources to avert a global catastrophe.
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