The United Nations food agency said the war in Iran was plunging millions of people into acute famine, as it predicted if the conflict intensified and oil prices remained high.
The World Food Program (WFP) said an analysis in three vulnerable countries found that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 2.3 million in Afghanistan and 1.3 million in Sri Lanka are struggling to meet their basic food needs.
In March, the WFP predicted that 45 million people could be pushed into food insecurity by the end of June. This would add to the 318 million people worldwide who already suffer from food insecurity.
“We maintain this prognosis,” Carl Skau, acting director general of the WFP, told UN journalists.
“This is mainly because the correlation between energy prices and food prices is very close in many places, and also because in poorer countries people already spend all their money on food; therefore, when food prices increase, they eat less,” he said.
The WFP said in its report that its findings show that the crisis in the Middle East is generating “significant repercussions”, notably on the prices of food and fuel, and disrupting trade.
According to the Rome-based UN agency, these factors interact and are rapidly impacting food security and livelihoods, particularly in already vulnerable countries.
“These repercussions are expected to intensify in the months to come, even if the crisis in the Middle East subsides,” said the WFP.
Skau cited other global food insecurity hotspots, including Sudan, the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon, Yemen and Haiti.
The WFP has had to limit its aid to millions of people in need due to budget cuts, and Skau urged donors to mobilize more, particularly for Somalia and Afghanistan, “because the human consequences of inaction will be considerable.”
