Almost 20m more people affected by food crises in 2020

Almost 20m more people have been affected by food crises in 2020 triggered by armed conflicts, weather disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic, revealed the latest report from the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC)

The humanitarian agency also warned that acute food insecurity has continued to worsen since 2017, the first year of its annual report into food crises.

At 135m, the number of people in crisis or worse in 2019 was the highest in the four years of the GRFC's existence. This increase also reflected the inclusion of additional countries and areas within some countries.

When comparing the 50 countries that were in both the 2019 and the 2020 reports, the population in crisis or worse rose from 112m to 123m in the past year.

Around 183m people in 47 countries were also classified in stressed conditions, at risk of slipping into crisis or worse if confronted by an additional shock or stressor.

More specifically, the report said that an estimated 75m stunted children were living in the 55 food-crisis countries analysed.

Two out of three people affected by food crises last year were in Africa, though other parts of the world were not spared, with Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and Haiti among the 10 worst hit locations in 2020.

In Burkina Faso, South Sudan and Yemen, 133,000 people were in the most severe or "catastrophe" phase of food insecurity, requiring urgent action to avert widespread death and a total collapse of livelihoods.

The report warned the situation is not expected to improve this year, driven first and foremost by conflict, but with containment measures related to the Covid-19 pandemic an exacerbating factor.