More terrible than coronavirus: starvation threatens millions of people in the poorest countries

Economic decline, deteriorating health care, rising domestic violence - the coronavirus pandemic is multiplying a number of other important problems in the world. As the harvest season approaches, experts point to a new threat - mass famine in Africa and Asia, writes "Voice of America".

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In 2020, for the first time since 1998, the level of poverty, and at the same time, hunger in the world will increase due to the coronavirus, experts predict. And because of the economic impact of the pandemic, more people could die than from the virus itself.

So says David Beasley, executive director of the UN food program.

“If we don't prepare and ensure access to food to avoid trade disruptions, this could lead to famine of biblical proportions in the coming months,” he said.

Ethiopia, Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Guinea, the Central African Republic—millions of people are already experiencing hunger in some of the poorest countries in Africa and Asia. Due to restrictions on movement during the coronavirus, people often not only cannot receive medical care, but also work in the fields, sow and harvest.

With every percentage of the world's economy falling below the poverty line, an additional 14 to 22 million people fall below the poverty line, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

In addition, east Africa is experiencing the largest locust outbreak in 70 years this year, threatening 25 million people with starvation.

Perhaps the worst situation is in Yemen, which has been engulfed in civil war for the last 5 years. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network predicts that by 2012 there will be 15 people who will not have enough to eat.

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The charity Save the Children estimates that 3,5 children have already died of hunger there in the 85 years of conflict, and 000 million children are not getting enough food. And a third of the population - 2 people - according to UN estimates - are one step away from famine. With the country's economy virtually destroyed, one in four of the poorest families have completely lost their sources of income in recent months.

The coronavirus has led to disruptions in food trade between countries, and due to the pandemic, a number of donor countries have stopped providing humanitarian assistance to the country.

Many in Burkina Faso are also on the verge. In the province of Tuy, one of the main agricultural regions of the country, recently 40% of newborn children are underweight, and their mothers are malnourished.

“We expect the number of people without food to increase 2, 3, 5 times before November-December, which is usually the time to harvest. After all, those who do not sow will not reap anything,” say local doctors.

The decrease in food production has led to a rise in food prices. Prices for rice, corn, grain and other basic food crops rose by 30-60% in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia. And in Sudan, the cost of food has tripled. World prices for rice and grain rose by 15% and 12%, respectively.

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At the same time, given the pandemic, a number of agricultural countries, including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Russia, have introduced temporary restrictions on the export of agricultural products.

Children are most at risk of malnutrition: they often received food through government programs in schools, but those were quarantined. In particular, as a result, 85 million schoolchildren in Latin America and the Caribbean have been cut off from government nutrition programs and from providing children with the social and health care they need.

According to the UN, before the pandemic, 3 million children worldwide died of malnutrition every year. Every month 10 more children are dying of hunger from a pandemic.

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Scientists: because of the pandemic, the number of hungry people in the world may double

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