Hunger Hotspots Report 2021

INTRODUCTION

• Recently, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) released this report called "Hunger Hotspots Report- August to November 2021

KEY POINTS

• Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan, northern Nigeria and Yemen are among 23 countries where acute food insecurity will worsen from August through November, 2021.
• The ongoing conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and the disastrous drought in southern Madagascar has made them both the newest alert regions regarding hunger issues.

FACTORS

Violence:

• Population displacement, abandonment of agricultural land, loss of life and assets, disruption of trade and cropping and loss of access to markets caused by conflicts can worsen food insecurity.
• Violence is predicted to intensify in Afghanistan, Central Sahel, the Central African Republic etc.
• Violence is also likely to disrupt access to humanitarian assistance.

Pandemic Shocks:

• In 2020, almost all low- and middle-income countries were affected by the Pandemic-induced economic downturns.

Natural Hazards:

• Extreme weather conditions and climate variability are likely to affect several parts of the world during the outlook period.
• In Haiti, for instance, reduced precipitation during the main growing season ended May is likely to have impacted yield. Continued below-average rainfall, on the hand, is likely to reduce yield during the main rice-growing season.
• Desert Locust infestation was a major worry in the Horn of Africa at the beginning of July 2021, while other regions were unaffected.

Poor humanitarian access:

• Humanitarian access is limited in various ways, including administrative/bureaucratic impediments, movement restrictions, security constraints and physical constraints related to the environment.
• Countries currently facing the most significant obstacles, preventing aid from reaching those who need it most are Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic etc.

SUGGESTIONS

• Integration of diverse policies is required in conflict regions towards better socio-economic development of the victims.
• Short-term protective interventions are important besides the ongoing humanitarian assistances
• Scale-up climate resilience across food systems by offering smallholder farmers wide access to climate risk insurance and forecast-based financing.
• Along with this, direct cash programmes are required to deal in a diverse manner

INDIA'S STEPS TOWARDS FOOD SECURITY

National Food Security Mission:

• It aims to increase production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals and commercial crops, through area expansion and productivity enhancement.

PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY):

• It aimed at providing each person who is covered under the National Food Security Act 2013 with an additional 5 kg grains (wheat or rice) for free, in addition to the 5 kg of subsidised foodgrain already provided through the Public Distribution System (PDS).

One Nation One Ration Card:

• It will address the poor state of hunger in India, as highlighted by the Global Hunger Index, where India has been ranked 102 out of 117 countries

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi:

• It intends to supplement the financial needs of the Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs) in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income at the end of each crop cycle.

The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013:

• It legally entitled up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System.
• The eldest woman of the household of age 18 years or above is mandated to be the head of the household for the purpose of issuing ration cards under the Act.

Food and Agriculture Organization

• FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
• World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16th October to mark the anniversary of the founding of the FAO in 1945.
• It is one of the UN food aid organisations based in Rome (Italy). Its sister bodies are the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

World Food Programme

• It is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.
• It was award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 for its efforts to combat hunger
• It was founded in 1961 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with its headquarters in Rome, Italy.
• WFP focuses on emergency assistance as well as rehabilitation and development aid.
• Two-thirds of its work is in conflict-affected countries, where people are three times more likely to be undernourished than elsewhere.

Sources

• The Indian Express
• Down to Earth
• WFP website
• FAO website