The World Bank has said seven countries, including Nigeria, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen are experiencing “catastrophic levels of food insecurity”, adding that this indicates the “threat of famine”.
This was revealed in the apex bank’s latest food security update, titled, ‘Food security update: World Bank Response to Rising Food Insecurity’, published on Friday.
The report also stated that the number of people experiencing crisis and worse acute food insecurity was the highest on record since the Global Report on Food Crises started in 2017.
Drawing on research from International Food Policy Research Institute and other centres, the report stressed the need for well-coordinated early warning systems and anticipatory action frameworks to prepare and organise responses before a crisis.
The report also calls on governments to maintain supportive business environments for agrifood value chains, build adaptive social protection programs that integrate gender and climate goals, repurpose agricultural support funds, and better leverage private sector funds for long-term resilience.
The report also highlighted that domestic food price inflation remained high worldwide.
