Rising poverty in conflict zones ‘causes a billion people to go hungry’

Meals are distributed for people who are out of reach of international aid efforts, in Omdurman, Sudan. Photograph: Mazin Alrasheed/Reuters

Extreme poverty is accelerating in 39 countries affected by war and conflict, leaving more than a billion people to go hungry, according to the World Bank.

Civil wars and confrontations between nations, mostly in Africa, have set back economic growth and reduced the incomes of more than a billion people, “driving up extreme poverty faster than anywhere else”, the Washington-based body said.