ISLAMABAD: Two UN food agencies — the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) — have issued stark warnings about multiple, looming food crises across the world.

In their joint report, titled Hunger Hotspots: FAO-WFP Early Warnings on Acute Food Insecurity, the agencies call for urgent humanitarian action to help “hunger hotspots” where acute hunger is expected to worsen over the next few months. The report tagged six nations as “highest alert” hot spots facing catastrophic conditions: Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia. It said as many as 750,000 people are facing starvation and death in those countries.

WFP Executive Director David Beasley said besides hurting “the poorest of the poor” the global food crises threaten to overwhelm millions of families who are just getting by.

“What’s already happening in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan and Peru is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Meanwhile, Minister for Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema, told the prime minister’s pre-budget conference that the crop and livestock productivity in Pakistan was less than half its economic potential.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2022