Starvation Increases As A Signal To Stop Global Conflict

Rice (Photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA - In an introduction to the latest "Global Report on the Food Crisis", UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the current condition of food vulnerability in the world is a sharp indictment of the failure of mankind to end hunger.

How not, in the report written by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) it states that by 2022, there will be around 258 million people in 58 countries facing acute food insecurity at a crisis level or a worse level.

This figure is also reported to have increased from the previous year, which recorded 193 million people in 53 countries.

In fact, the FAO report also states that the number of acute food insecurity has increased for four consecutive years.

In the report launched on May 3, 2023, Guterres assessed that the current condition of more than a quarter billion people facing acute hunger rates, and some being on the verge of starvation, is "absurd".

Based on information from its official website, FAO has started providing reports of hunger conditions in the world since 1974, or nearly half a century ago.

Meanwhile, in accordance with a number of its mandates, FAO seeks to eradicate hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition in various parts of the world.

The hunger itself is given meaning, still according to the official FAO website, as an uncomfortable or painful physical sensation caused by the consumption of inadequate food energy.

Meanwhile, food insecurity is a condition experienced by a person if he does not have regular access to food that is safe and nutritious for normal growth and development and lives an active and healthy life.

The link between hunger and food vulnerability is that if a person is in a severe food vulnerability, then he can run out of food or undergo one or several days without eating. In other words, the person will most likely experience hunger.

In its report, FAO said that the economic shocks surpassed the conflict as a major global driver behind food insecurity and severe malnutrition, as well as other major drivers in global food vulnerability.

The report stated that the "cumulative global economic shock" contributes to food security, including rising food prices and disruptions in the market.

The impact of food security

However, FAO found that the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine had a severe impact on global food security, in part due to the significant contribution traditionally given by the two countries to the production of key food commodities, including wheat, corn, and solar interest oil.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is undeniable to have contributed to the potential for global food insecurity.

According to data from the World Bank, both Ukraine and Russia produce about 29 percent of the world's wheat, and produce 62 percent of international production from solar seed oil.

Therefore, Russia's invasion of Ukraine will spur food inflation in a number of developing economies and have a profound impact on poor and vulnerable countries.

In fact, the attacks carried out by Russia since February 2022 have yet to show signs of ending, there is even the potential for prolonged counter-attack plans to be carried out by the Ukrainian side in the near future.

According to the UN World Food Program (WFP) organization on its official website, conflict remains the main driver of hunger in most food crises in the world. This is because the form of armed conflict to riots of citizens can weaken the level of food and nutrition security.

The United States WFP website states that when incidents of conflict and violence arise, the impact that will occur among others is the destruction of infrastructure, the cessation of trade processes (such as food imports), increasing inflation, reducing the value of the currency, and being able to eliminate jobs.

All the factors that have been mentioned earlier are things that can make it difficult for residents everywhere around the world to find food.

In other words, it is certain that the act of overcoming hunger cannot be overcome without the condition of social-political stability in an area or country.

For this reason, a number of organizations such as WFP are also determined to play a role in building a path to peace, as conflicts contribute to rising hunger.

Need humanitarian assistance

In addition, the 2023 Global Humanitarian Review estimates that currently there are 1 in 23 people in the world who need humanitarian assistance, a number that has doubled compared to 2020.

It is also estimated that nearly 60 percent of the world's starving people live in areas affected by the conflict, as well as about 80 percent of the world's food crisis driven by war, persecution, and various other forms of conflict.

It can also be seen that it is in line with the report issued by FAO.

In the report, more than 40 percent of the global population suffering from significant food insecurity comes from only five countries, namely Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Yemen.

Afghanistan is a country that has experienced constant conflict since the 20th century, such as the war against the occupation of the Sovyet Union in 1979-1989, the civil war from 1989 to the early 21st century, until it was invaded by the United States and a number of other countries in the name of "The Global War Against Terrorism" (2001-2021).

Democratic Republic of Congo is experiencing civil war from 1996 to 2007, as well as ongoing internal conflict for decades afterward, such as the massacre of more than 800 people in the Yumbi area on 16-18 December 2018.

Ethiopia has also in the past decade experienced a number of conflicts, such as a series of protests from the Oromo tribe since 2014, conflicts between citizens during President Abiy Ahmed's administration from 2018, to the Tigray War in 2020-2022.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has been experiencing Boko Haram insurgency since 2009, and Yemen has graced various news in the world with civil war since 2014 between the Houthi movement group and the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

Still based on the FAO report, a number of the world's population is hit by what FAO calls an "acute hunger and poverty", or the worst level of food vulnerability, with more than half in Somalia.

Somalia has been experiencing civil war conflicts since 2009, particularly between the government and the Al Shabaab group.

Of course, hunger people are also not only found in some of these countries, but occur in many other places in the world, and are mostly caused or strengthened by conflicts.

For this reason, various parties who are involved in various conflicts that are currently warming in the world, must also be able to reflect deeply on the clear phenomenon between the emergence of conflict with the onset of hunger and global food insecurity.

It is hoped that they can take wise steps by trying their best and being as creative as possible to stop the conflict, because any political victory or war will not be commensurate with the increasing hunger in society.