This year has brought a grim milestone, with two famines recorded simultaneously in Gaza and Sudan, collectively impacting millions. It’s the first time this has happened since the universal food insecurity measurement system, known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), was established in 2004.
While the ceasefire in Gaza has led to hope that food security in the territory will improve, humanitarian situations elsewhere in the world are escalating due to challenges including humanitarian aid cuts. A report published by the World Food Programme (WFP) this week highlighted how key challenges include record levels of food insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; soaring malnutrition rates in Afghanistan, where food assistance is now only reaching 10 per cent of the population; and a spiralling crisis in Haiti, where food aid recipients are now receiving receiving food worth half of WFP’s standard monthly rations, as a result of budget constraints.
