An Oxfam report has revealed that the world’s worst climate hotspots have seen a huge surge in acute hunger over the last six years. The report called on rich nations to drastically cut their emissions and compensate low-income countries. Titled “Hunger in a heating world”, the analysis found that acute hunger had risen 123 per cent over six years in the 10 most-affected nations.
These include Somalia, Haiti, Djibouti, Kenya, Niger, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Madagascar, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe. All of them have repeatedly witnessed extreme weather over the last two decades. As per reports compiled by the World Food Programme, an estimated 48 million people across these countries suffer acute hunger, up from 21 million people in 2016, with 18 million on the brink of starvation.
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Acute hunger is defined as hunger resulting from a shock and causing risks to lives and livelihoods.
“The effects of severe weather events are already being felt,” Lia Lindsey, Oxfam America’s senior humanitarian policy advisory told AFP.
The report acknowledges that conflict and economic disruptions, including those caused by COVID-19, are a major cause for global hunger.
“However, these new and worsening weather extremes are increasingly peeling away the abilities of poor people particularly in low-income countries to stave off hunger and cope with the next shock,” the report said.
Somalia, for example, is facing its worst drought on record, forcing one million people to flee their homes.
Climate change has also been leading to extreme weather conditions, such as intense heat waves and floods, which also deplete the food resources. For eg, the floods in Pakistan washed away crops and topsoil and destroyed farming infrastructure.
In Guatemala, close to 80 percent of the maize harvest has been lost owing to weather conditions, apart from causing a “coffee crisis” in the region that has hit vulnerable communities hardest and forced many to migrate to the United States.
Oxfam stressed that climate-fuelled hunger is a “stark demonstration of global inequality”, with the countries least responsible for the crisis suffering most from its impact.
Polluting industrialized nations such as those of the G20 are responsible for more than three-quarters of the world’s carbon emissions, while the 10 climate hotspots are collectively responsible for just 0.13 percent.
“Leaders especially of rich polluting countries must live up to their promises to cut emissions,” said Gabriela Bucher, Oxfam International executive director, in a statement.
(With inputs from agencies)
