Nearly 27 mln People in IGAD Region Faced Acute Food Insecurity

Addis Ababa ENA September 3/2019 An estimated 27 million people in the IGAD region have faced acute food insecurity in 2018, according to a new report released by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Food Security Information Network (FSIN).

According to the report, 24 percent of the total food insecure people in the world- lived in seven of the eight countries in the IGAD region.

A regional first, the report draws special attention to the plight of millions of people experiencing acute levels of food and nutrition insecurity in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda.

There were three main drivers of food insecurity in East Africa: climatic shocks, conflict and economic instability, the report indicated.

The worst-affected countries in 2018 in terms of acute food insecurity were Ethiopia (8.1 million), Sudan (6.2 million) and South Sudan (6.1 million).

In South Sudan, 59 percent of the population, or six out of ten people required urgent assistance to protect livelihoods, reduce food consumption gaps and malnutrition.

In Somalia, more than one in five people (or 22 percent of the population) were acutely food insecure.

“The main drivers of acute food insecurity and malnutrition in our region are climate, conflict and economic instability,” said Ambassador Mahboub Maalim, IGAD Executive Secretary at the launch.

“I call on IGAD specialized offices, Member States and partners to invest further in resilience, adaptation to climate change, conflict prevention and sustaining peace to overcome vulnerability and address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition,” he urged.

The regional report serves as an important milestone towards delivering the commitment of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to fight acute hunger and malnutrition in the region.