FAO aims to assist nearly 49 million people in 2021

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization intends to reach more than 48.9 million people who rely on agriculture for their survival.

JOHANNESBURG, March 12 (ANA) – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) is seeking US$1.1 billion in 2021 to save the lives and livelihoods of some of the world’s most food-insecure people.

In a statement dated Thursday, the organisation said that in 2021 they are aiming to reach more than 48.9 million people who rely on agriculture for their survival and livelihoods.

This will be achieved through interventions aimed at boosting local food production and nutrition while strengthening the capacity and resilience of communities to prepare for and cope with crises, as well as providing post-disaster livelihoods support to help people resume production.

FAO’s emergency response in 2021 will focus on providing assistance to highly food-insecure communities in more than 30 countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

FAO said it will continue to expand its anticipatory action linked to early warnings in 2021 to protect livelihoods before a disaster.

“We will continue investing in the most vulnerable people and their livelihoods so that they can lead their future recovery and pull themselves out of acute hunger,” said director of FAO’s emergencies and resilience division Dominique Burgeon.

According to FAO’s latest data, country after country has recorded new food insecurity figures. The total number of people who experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels in 2020 is expected to exceed 2019’s high of 135 million people.

This year’s “Global Report on Food Crises”, to be launched by the Global Network against Food Crises in April, will underscore the severity of the situation.

“The shocks of the past year will reverberate long into 2021 and beyond, and we need to urgently scale up actions to avert a worst-case scenario,” said Burgeon.

Of extreme concern are the estimated 30 million people in Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) phase 4 or emergency levels of acute hunger, who are already dying in large numbers or facing the irreversible loss of their livelihoods.

Hundreds of thousands of people are at extreme risk of acute food insecurity in several countries. Many are living in conflict zones where humanitarian access is restricted or challenging.

“Millions are living on the precipice – one stress or shock away from rapid deterioration. With or without famine declarations, we need to act now,” Burgeon added.

According to FAO, four out of five people live in rural areas and rely on some form of agricultural production for their livelihoods. The most severe manifestation of acute hunger remains a largely rural phenomenon, so averting famine must therefore begin in rural areas and include large-scale and collective action.

FAO said it has already provided critical livelihood support to safeguard the livelihoods of more than 24 million people against the socio‑economic impacts of Covid-19.

Desert locust control operations have also had an impact in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen, where FAO has protected more than 3.1 million tons of cereal worth US$939 million, enough to feed more than 20.8 million people for a year and protect more than 1.5 million pastoral households.

With FAO’s support, those affected can have the means and the capacity to produce the food needed to stave off acute hunger.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher