WFP raises alert on soar hunger, death to covid pandemic

The Executive Director (ED), World Food Programme (WFP) Mr. David Beasley has given a warning of impending famine in many countries as corona virus pandemic would destroy more lives if constructive measures to checkmate are not put in place, even as a published report from the organization has revealed a devastating hunger based on covid 19 impacts. Mr. David Beasley said this in press release made available to Food Farm News last week Friday.


Speaking to the world leaders at the United Nation Security Council about three months ago according to the press release, Mr. Beasley was said to have foreseen an imminent hunger that must be checkmated to forestall untimely death of people based on COVID pandemic.

In the statement, Beasley was quoted as saying that “Three months ago at the UN Security Council, I told world leaders that we ran the risk of a famine of biblical proportions. Today, our latest data tell us that, since then, millions of the world’s very poorest families have been forced even closer to the abyss. Livelihoods are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate and now their lives are in imminent danger from starvation. Make no mistake-if we do not act now to end this pandemic of human suffering, many people will die’’

The WFP ED’s position was confirmed in a new report jointly  compiled by WFP and FAO that states  ‘’ A new report published today shows that people in some 25 countries are set to face devastating levels of hunger in coming months due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the greatest concentration of need is in Africa, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the Middle East and Asia – including middle-income countries - are also being ravaged by crippling levels of food insecurity’’

Other contents of the press release read thus ‘’ To prevent the worst, WFP is scaling up to provide food assistance to an unprecedented 138 million people who face desperate levels of hunger as the pandemic tightens its grip on some of the most fragile countries on earth.

The cost of WFP’s response to this burgeoning food insecurity is estimated at US$ 4.9 billion, with an additional $500 million being earmarked to prevent the outbreak of famine in countries most at risk’’

‘’This represents more than half of the updated COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, the largest appeal in the UN’s history, launched today, for more than US$ 10 billion. The plan covers wide-ranging humanitarian needs in more than 60 countries, many of them already reeling from the impact of conflict, climate change and economic crisis.

The number of acute food insecure people in these at-risk countries could increase from an estimated 149 million pre-COVID-19 to 270 million before the end of the year if life-saving assistance is not provided urgently. Recent estimates also suggest that up to 6,000 children could die every day from preventable causes over the next six months as a result of pandemic-related disruptions to essential health and nutrition services.

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies, building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change’’