EARTH FUTURE ACTION
(Source: Statista, 7-29-22)
Africa is facing the greatest hunger crisis in its history.
278 Million people in Africa are suffering from chronic hunger. This is 20% of the continent's population (Statista, 7-29-22). The hunger crisis is particularly dire in Somalia, with seven other countries rated as "very serious": Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Burundi, the Central African Republic the Comoros and Madagascar. Only a handful of countries can be classified as "low" or "moderate" on the hunger severity scale.
“I’ve been working in this sector now for more than 15 years and this for me is the worst crisis we've seen," said Carin Smaller, executive director of the Shamba Centre, a think tank working to end global hunger. Humanitarian agencies are scrambling to prepare themselves for even more critical levels of hunger, as they face a €14 billion annual gap in food security spending. What doesn't help is that a drought is currently gripping the horn of Africa, leaving some 26 million people facing food shortages. More than 7 million livestock animals have already been wiped out. Across East Africa as a whole, some 50 million people are facing acute food insecurity. (Politico, 8-15-22)
THE WAR IN UKRAINE EXACERBATES AFRICAN HUNGER
The situation was already bad before the war in Ukraine. However, the war has dramatically exacerbated the situation. The sanctions against Russia are only making the situation worse. If this keeps going, millions will die. This is on top of the fact that the most recent spending bills from the U.S. have given no additional aid to global Covid efforts.
The head of the World Bank has stated that the world is facing a threat of imminent human catastrophe (Asia Times, 5-26-22).
The head of the African Union has called for lifting some of the sanctions on Russia (Mronline, 6-15-22). He has warned that the situation is causing a threat to food security in Africa.
The sanctions against Russia are a study in Western hypocrisy. The Western countries continue to buy Russian oil and gas, but African countries are cut off from food and key agricultural supplies.
Ukraine and Russia together supply about 30% of the world's wheat and barley, one-fifth of the world's maize, and over half of its sunflower oil according to a UN report.
In 2020, Russia was the world's #1 exporter of wheat and fertilizer. They exported nearly a fifth of all the world's wheat. Russia also exports 12% of the worlds' fertilizers. (OEC). So the war in Ukraine is obviously going to have a tremendous impact on the global food supply.
It is time for the war in Ukraine to be brought to an end. It is time to wrap up the conflict and promote peace. The rest of the world cannot bear the cost of this conflict.
U.S. GOVERNMENT LEAVES GLOBAL POOR TO DIE OF COVID
The U.S. government also needs to stop ignoring most of the experts in the world with the matter of Covid aid to the poor. Back in September 2021, the Secretary-General of the UN and several global health experts called on America to make a major commitment to assisting the world's poor in fighting Covid. In fairness to President Biden, there was some money in the March 2021 Covid bill passed by Congress, but that was grossly inadequate for the world's poor. Experts have stated that the U.S. needs to dedicate anywhere from $20 billion to $50 billion to help keep the globe vaccinated. We ourselves have recommended $20 billion.
Rich Nations Again Accused of Vaccine Hoarding as UK OKs Moderna Omicron Booster (Common Dreams, 8-15-22)
RELATED EARTH FUTURE ACTION REPORTS
The Global Cost of Sanctions (Earth Future Action)
Global Covid Aid (Earth Future Action)
UN Votes on Ukraine Crisis - The Rest of the World Does Not Support America's Position (Earth Future Action)
REATED NEWS AND REPORTS
The Human Consequences of Economic Sanctions (Center For Economic and Policy Research, 2023)
This report provides a comprehensive survey and assessment of the literature on the effects of economic sanctions.
It goes over 32 studies.
Hunger in Africa (Statista, 7-29-22)