April 22,2020

Andrew Campbell 

As the global has the highly attention about the pandemic, the food shortage is another problem coming after COVID-19.

David Beasley, the executive director of World Food Program (WFP), stated that people are at the point of hanger crisis in the UN video conference. WFP worked with other partners to release a global report on food crises which indicated that the insufficient food shortage is a threat to many people. Some countries might face the difficulty either to save lives from COVID-19 or to save live from hunger. 

Before COVID-19, around 135 million people were on the edge of starvation. In other words, the number of people who suffered from the insufficient food was surpassed by the population of Mexico in 2019. WFP predicted that the number of people confronted with the food crisis would double. It will increase to 265 million this year. 

The hunger crisis is real and it is happening now. Many reasons cause the starvation. Despite the COVID-19, the civil war between Yemen and Syria caused the starvation. In Africa, the locusts swarm phenomenon has already damaged crops and caused the food shortage. Because the air cargo was suspended, some countries depend on the food donation will face the shortage of stockpile. 

After this report, António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, immediately made the response and wrote the message to state that some countries and families are under the pressure to deal with the coronavirus; however, we have the professional skills to deal with these crises, but we need effective policies and commitment leaders to continue to work on these efforts. 

Photo:Webshot.