Number of people facing high risk of acute malnutrition rises to 1.9M: Report

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The number of people facing or projected to face an extreme lack of food with a significantly increased risk of acute malnutrition and death has more than doubled in 2024 and risen to 1.9 million, according to a report released Thursday.

Those who are facing or under the risk of "Catastrophe" totaled 705,000 last year and rose to 1.9 million in 2024, said the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), released by the Global Network Against Food Crisis.

"This is the highest in GRFC reporting, driven by conflict in the Gaza Strip and the Sudan," it noted.

According to the report's criteria, in the Catastrophe category, household members experience an extreme lack of food and exhaustion of coping capacities, with a significantly increased risk of acute malnutrition and death.

It revealed that the Gaza Strip remains the most severe food crisis in the history of the GRFC, with all 2.2 million residents still in urgent need of food and livelihood assistance between March and April 2024.

"The severity of the crisis has intensified, with half of the population in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) during this period, up from a quarter in December 2023–February 2024," said the report.

It noted that in Sudan, famine is ongoing and is expected to persist through October 2024.

"Many other areas throughout the country are at risk of famine, but insufficient data inhibited analysis for many hard-to-reach areas," it said, adding that 25.6 million people in Sudan are estimated to face high levels of acute food insecurity during the June–September lean season, a 26% increase since the same period last year.

"The conflict has also had severe implications for regional food and nutrition security, with more than 2 million people forced to flee to neighboring countries, mainly to major food-crisis countries including Chad and South Sudan," said the research.

It also pointed out that Afghanistan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala and Lebanon all had at least 1 million fewer people facing high levels of acute food insecurity since the 2023 peak, but they remain major food crises.

"Shocks, such as intensifying conflict, El Nino-induced drought and high domestic food prices drove worsening food crises in 18 countries by mid-2024," added the report.

It noted that Nigeria, Sudan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Chad and Yemen all had at least 1 million more people facing high levels of acute food insecurity than during the 2023 peak.