Millions of people are struggling to meet basic food needs and, in some cases, being pushed into acute hunger due to the Iran war, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today.
In March, WFP predicted that 45 million people could fall into acute food insecurity if the Middle East conflict continued to spike oil prices. Now, WFP says, that scenario is unfolding.
A new WFP report released today, which explores the impact of the crisis on some of the world’s most vulnerable countries, found that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 1.3 million in Sri Lanka and 2.3 million in Afghanistan are “struggling to meet basic food needs and, in some cases, being pushed into acute hunger due to the crisis.”
Jean-Martin Bauer, director of WFP’s food security and nutrition analysis service, said early warnings only matter “if the world acts on them.”
The devastating knock-on impacts of the war are projected to intensify over the coming months, even if the crisis in the Middle East deescalates, WFP said.
