The famine in Somalia has eased, but donor support has not stopped it, said the head of the World Food Program

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning World Food Program says support from donors such as the United States and Germany has allowed it to delay, if not completely, the Famine in Somalia, but stressed that “we are not who of this.”

WFP executive director David Beasley said countries in the sub-Saharan African region have faced “unprecedented climate impacts” from a year-long drought, and the UN agency hopes Somalia will be declared a famine before those affected. in a beautiful way.

Somalia not yet in famine but still in danger, report says

We succeeded — I don’t know if ‘stopping the famine’ is the right word — but we really postponed it,” he told The Associated Press at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. “We’ve been lucky so far because of the harsh climate in Somalia. But we’re not done with it yet. “

However, he warned that “we may continue to face a technological Famine in Somalia” because “famine-like conditions” already exist.

“Once you make it public that there’s a famine, it’s over,” Beasley said.

A famine is a severe shortage of food and a high death rate from starvation or malnutrition and disease such as cholera. A declaration of famine means that more than a fifth of families are food insecure, more than 30% of children are severely malnourished, and more than two in 10,000 people die every day.

Prolonged drought brings famine and fear to Somalia

Beasley, who announced his retirement in April, drew on his political experience as a former Republican governor of the US state of South Carolina to raise money from Washington for global food programs under the Biden and Trump administrations.

Famine in Somalia; The United States last month announced $411 million in additional funding for Somalia’s crisis after a UN report and other experts said more than 8 million Somalis were suffering from drought and high prices. High quality food. Thousands of people died.

When Beasley took office in 2017, about 80 million people in the world were on the brink of starvation and were chronically hungry. Conflict, climate change and COVID-19 have pushed that number to 350 million today due to economic destruction and supply chain disruptions.

“You think it can’t get any worse. Then the bakery of the world closed: Ukraine,” Beasley said. “Now (the country has) the longest bread line in the world,” referring to the Russian war that boosted Ukrainian food production and exports.

There is such a demand for food and fertilizers, Famine in Somalia of which Russia is the world’s largest supplier, that plant nutrients must reach farmers in need.

“I don’t care if you love Russia or hate Russia, you’re going to feed and feed,” Beasley said. “If we are not careful, by the end of this year there will be food shortages, or food prices will be so high that there will be a crisis in countries, leading to mass migration. .”

Two explosions kill ‘scores’ of civilians near ministry offices in Somalia’s capital

Famine in Somalia Russia has complained that Western sanctions have limited its food and fertilizer exports despite a UN wartime deal allowing grain and other agricultural supplies to flow through the Black Sea from Russia and Ukraine. Although the ban is not aimed at food exports, many shipping and insurance companies are not interested in Moscow, rejecting or raising prices.

“It’s going to take years to develop other systems around the world. Famine in Somalia The head of the World Food Program But in the meantime, we’re going to get the fertilizer and we’re going to do it in a way that Russia doesn’t use it,” Beasley said. “And that’s very important.”