A South Sudanese woman receiving food provided by Humanitarian organizations in South Sudan - Credit: UNOCHA

Two United Nations agencies have projected the highest level of food insecurity in 18 hotspots in the world, with South Sudan, Palestine, Sudan and Mali set to suffer famine from June to October 2024.

The early warning report released by World Food Program (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), highlights the urgent need for assistance to prevent famine and dire hunger crises in the four countries.

FAO-WFP called for urgent humanitarian action to save lives and prevent starvation and death in 17 countries as well as the drought-hit southern African region.

“The daunting prospects highlighted in this report should serve as a wake-up call to all of us,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.

“We need to spearhead the shift from responding to crises after they occur to more proactive anticipatory approaches, prevention and resilience building to help vulnerable communities cope with upcoming shocks.”

WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain, appealed for early action to avert the looming famine, adding that the world should learn from the 2011 Somalia famine.

“Once a famine is declared, it is too late – many people will have already starved to death. In Somalia in 2011, half of the quarter of a million people who died of hunger perished before famine was officially declared.”

“The world failed to heed the warnings at the time and the repercussions were catastrophic. We must learn the lesson and act now to stop these hotspots from igniting a firestorm of hunger.”

“We have proven solutions to stop these crises in their tracks, but we need the resources and the political will to implement them at scale before more lives are lost.”

According to the UN agencies, the number of South Sudanese facing starvation and death is projected to almost double between April and July 2024, compared to the same period in 2023.

The situation is blamed on sharp currency depreciation, subnational violence and the humanitarian crisis caused by the influx of returnees and refugees from the Sudan.

The report also found that conflict, climate extremes, and economic shocks continue to drive vulnerable households into food crises across the world.

It stated that the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian enclave Gaza, is expected to further worsen already catastrophic levels of acute hunger, with starvation and death already taking place.

In Sudan, the report said conflict and displacement also continue there at an alarming pace, where time is running out to save lives and the lean season looms.

The agencies said about 18 million people are acutely food insecure across Sudan, including 3.6 million severely malnourished, adding that millions of people are on the verge of famine in Darfur, Kordofan, Al Jazirah and Khartoum.

“A further two million people have fled across borders, deepening the burden on neighboring countries – especially in South Sudan and Chad, where existing hunger crises are deepening by the spillover from the deadly conflict in the Sudan.”

– Climate threats –

The report noted that lingering impact of El Niño and the looming threat of La Niña conditions that risks bringing further climate extremes that could raze lives and livelihoods.

FAO-WFP warns that La Niña conditions are expected to prevail between August 2024 and February 2025, significantly influencing rainfall distribution and temperatures.

It said the shift in climate could have major implications for several hotspots, including risk of floods in parts of South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Chad, Mali and Nigeria, as well as the Sudan.