Kathmandu, December 9
Thirty-nine countries, including Nepal, Afghanistan and Haiti are reportedly in dire need of external assistance for food as a result of civil conflict and weather–related shocks, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says.
In its report, ‘Crop Prospects and Food Situation’, released on Thursday, the UN agency says that while outlook for global cereal supplies is improving due to generally favourable growing conditions for crops, the legacy of recent droughts persists, as do the negative effects of a spate of conflicts.
According to the report, the primary cause of local food crisis ranges from exceptional shortfall in food production and widespread lack of access – due to low incomes, high prices or disrupted distribution networks – to the impact of conflicts on local food security conditions.
The 39 countries currently in need of external food assistance, according to the FAO, are: Nepal, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
