Why in News?

• The 2020 edition of the annual Global Report on Food Crises has been released. The report is produced by the Global Network against Food Crises, an international alliance working to address the root causes of Extreme Hunger.

Highlights:

• The 2020 edition of The Global Report on Food Crises describes the scale of acute hunger in the world.
• It also examines how the COVID-19 pandemic might contribute to their perpetuation or deterioration.
• At the close of 2019, 135 million people across 55 countries and territories experienced acute food insecurity. Acute food insecurity is when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.
• Additionally, in 2019, 183 million people were classified in Stressed condition — at the cusp of acute hunger and at risk of slipping into Crisis or worse if faced with a shock or stressor, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Most affected areas: More than half (73 million) of the 135 million people covered by the report live in Africa; 43 million live in the Middle East and Asia; 18.5 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean. The key drivers behind the trends analysed in the report were: conflict, (the key factor that pushed 77 million people into acute food insecurity), weather extremes (34 million people) and economic turbulence (24 million).

Global Network Against Food Crisis:

• The Global Network Against Food Crises was launched by the European Union, FAO and World Food Programme (WFP) during the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) to respond to the WHS’s call for new approaches to tackle protracted crises and recurrent disasters, reduce vulnerability, and manage risk, by bridging the divide between development and humanitarian partners.

World Food Programme:

• The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.
• According to the WFP, it provides food assistance to an average of 91.4 million people in 83 countries each year.
• From its headquarters in Rome and from more than 80 country offices around the world, the WFP works to help people who cannot produce or obtain enough food for themselves and their families.
• It is a member of the United Nations Development Group and part of its executive committee.
• The WFP was formally established in 1963 by the FAO and the United Nations General Assembly on a three-year experimental basis.