Including Somalia, the crisis in the Middle East casts a shadow over food security in fragile countries

This came in a report issued by the program today, Thursday, and Carl Skow, the acting executive director of the program, commented on its findings, in statements to reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The program had been launched, Skau said “An urgent warning stating that if the crisis continues and oil prices remain at a level exceeding $100 per barrel until June, about 45 million people will be pushed into hunger.”. He added that, through the new report, they have begun to monitor how the effects of this crisis are unfolding.

To assess the impact of the crisis, the program conducted case studies in Afghanistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka; These countries were chosen due to their varying levels of economic development and their dependence on trade, energy, and remittance flows linked to the Middle East region. The report showed the following:

🔹 In Somalia, up to 2.5 million additional people may become unable to afford the basic food basket this year, while about 60% of families may face difficulties in meeting their basic needs.

🔹 In Afghanistan, up to 2.3 million additional people may fall into the cycle of food insecurity if the Middle East crisis intensifies and transit traffic across the border with Pakistan continues to be disrupted.

🔹 In Sri Lanka, projections indicate that an additional 1.3 million people may face difficulties in meeting their basic nutritional needs, joining the 4.7 million people who are already at risk.

A crisis that goes beyond food security

The UN official explained that in the three countries, there is a different mix of factors behind this situation. “Rising prices are one of these factors, but another element is the lack of funding allocated to the humanitarian and development response.”.

The program warned that the effects of the crisis are not only exacerbating the living conditions of those who are already suffering from hunger, but it is also working to create new foci of fragility and vulnerability. Poor families in urban areas and marginalized rural communities face increasing difficulties, as their purchasing power erodes as a result of rising prices and declining income levels.

He also pointed out that the risks are not limited to food security only, but that concerns about political stability are legitimate concerns, as the combination of a new major economic shock, a historic decline in foreign aid, along with a global economic growth rate that is insufficient to reduce extreme poverty, represents a development that raises deep concern in many countries.

Repercussions of declining funding

The acting Executive Director of the program spoke about the decline in funding, saying: “We are facing a perfect storm, with record levels of hunger, which is set to rise further. At the same time, we have seen a historic decline in funding, which fell by 40% last year.”.

He explained that “There are contexts that are more affected than others.”citing both Somalia and Afghanistan.

Regarding Somalia, he said that famine conditions are looming over the country, stressing that “colleagues on the ground are working around the clock to prevent this from happening.”

He gave an example of the impact of funding cuts on one clinic he visited in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, where mothers returned empty-handed after a three- to four-hour walk carrying their malnourished children because the clinic had run out of supplies and materials.