Latest news with #foodshortage
France 24
3 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
Millions go hungry in Nigeria as aid dries up, jihadists surge
Before insurgency upended daily life, Damboa was a regional farming hub. Today it stands on the frontline of survival. Located around 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of Borno state capital Maiduguri, the town lies on the fringes of the Sambisa forest, a game reserve turned jihadist enclave. While Nigeria's 16-year-old insurgency has slowed since violence peaked around 2015, attacks have picked up since the beginning of the year due to a myriad of factors that saw jihadist groups strengthen and security forces stretched thin. Almata Modu, 25, joined thousands of others fleeing the countryside into town in May, after jihadists overran her village. Rations are already meagre -- and set to run out as Western aid dries up. "We are safe, but the food is not enough," Modu told AFP, wearing a purple hijab, approaching an aid distribution centre in a police station. Aminata Adamu, 36, agreed. She fled her home a decade ago and receives monthly rations for four registered family members -- even though the family has since grown to 11. 'Lives will be lost' The limited food will soon run out by the end of July as Western aid cuts -- including President Donald Trump's dismantling of the US Agency for International Development -- send humanitarian programmes into a tailspin. "This is our last rice from USAID," said Chi Lael, Nigeria spokeswoman for the World Food Programme, pointing at a stack of white bags at another distribution centre in Mafa, around 150 kilometres from Damboa. There are five million "severely hungry" people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states -- the three worst affected by the jihadist insurgency waged by Boko Haram and rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). WFP has until now only been able to feed 1.3 million who now face starvation as food handouts run out. "There is no food left in the warehouses," said Lael. "Lives will be lost." The timing couldn't be worse. June to September is known as the "lean season", the time between planting and harvest when families have little food reserves. Normally, rural farmers would buy food -- but amid mass inflation from an economic crisis, coupled with forced displacement, many "can't afford much", said Diana Japaridze, of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Flying into Damboa shows vast swathes of farmland, abandoned because of the violence. The IS-aligned ISWAP has become better organised. Concurrently, the Niger-Nigeria counter-terrorism collaboration has been strained as the military is stretched thin by a separate banditry crisis and an economic crunch has stiffened rural grievances that such groups feed off, according to analysts. A farmer was killed in his field just days ago, residents said. Meanwhile, Damboa has the highest and most severe cases of malnutrition among children under five years in northeast Nigeria, said Kevin Akwawa, a doctor with the International Medical Corps. 150 nutrition centres shutting down Fanna Abdulraman, 39, mother of eight, brought her six-month-old, severely malnourished twins to a nutrition centre. She latched them to her breasts but, malnourished herself, she can't produce milk. Of the 500 nutrition centres that the WFP operates in northeast Nigeria, 150 are to be shut at the end of July due to shortage of funding. That leaves the lives of some 300,000 children at risk, according to WFP nutrition officer Dr John Ala. Two imposing banners bearing the trademark blue-and-red USAID logo still hang on the front gate, where stocks will soon run out. A sign of the insecurity in the area, everyone entering the centre is frisked with a handheld metal detector. Looming food shortages threaten to make matters worse. "When you see food insecurity, poverty, the next thing... is more insecurity, because people will resort to very terrible coping mechanisms to survive," Ala said. Across the country a record nearly 31 million people face acute hunger, according to David Stevenson, WFP chief in Nigeria. With WFP operations collapsing in northeast Nigeria, "this is no longer just a humanitarian crisis, it's a growing threat to regional stability", said Stevenson. Fanna Mohammed, a 30-year-old mother of nine, was oblivious food aid and child nutrition treatment will soon end. "I can't imagine that we will live," she said when she found out, an eight-month-old strapped on her back, a two-year-old shyly fidgeting next to her. In a June-to-September outlook report, the WFP and Food and Agriculture Organization warn "critical levels of acute food insecurity are expected to deteriorate" as the conflict intensifies, economic hardships persist and floods are expected. Despite the desperate need for more food, only a few farmers dare to venture out. They tend their fields under the protection of armed militias, stationed a few kilometres apart along the Maiduguri-Mafa highway.
ABC News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- ABC News
The hunger crisis inside Gaza will affect the news you see about the war
It was Friday afternoon and my phone lit up. One of our ABC Middle East team members was messaging the group WhatsApp chat. That group is usually pinging around the clock — sometimes incessantly, given the pace of news in this region. But the message which came through was chilling. "He told me he does not have the strength to hold a camera anymore," our producer Cherine Yazbeck told the group. "He has already lost 34 kilos. "He can hardly talk on the phone." We've heard for many, many months now about the severe shortages of food and other supplies across war-ravaged Gaza, as Israeli restrictions on deliveries have been in force. The ABC has brought you the scenes of babies lying silently in hospital beds, too weak to cry out as their mothers hover over them, feeling helpless because they're unable to breastfeed. We've broadcast accounts of aid seekers, scrambling for whatever food they can grab for their families and communities. And we've brought you reports of Palestinians protesting against Hamas for prolonging the war. These stories have been possible to publish because of the work of our network of talented and brave journalists and videographers who we work with on the ground — doing the legwork for us within Gaza's borders, given Israel's ban on foreign media entering the strip, something which is unprecedented in war coverage. And now one of our dedicated colleagues was telling us he was struggling to do that work. He was sharing that he was suffering in the same way as hundreds of thousands of other Palestinian men, women and children. And his story is not isolated. Other members of our team have also spoken of their hunger. These are Gazans, reporting on Gazans, and experiencing what Gazans are being subjected to as the war in the strip drags on. There's an old adage in the media about journalists not wanting to become the story. But in this instance, the journalist and the story are intrinsically linked in a battle for survival. And it could seriously impact how we can tell the broader story of the Gaza war. Major news outlets have voiced serious concern about their staff operating in Gaza. One of the world's largest news agencies, Agence France-Presse (AFP), appealed to the French government for help evacuating its staff. "Since AFP was founded in 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, some have been injured, others taken prisoner," the AFP journalist union said in a statement. "But none of us can ever remember seeing colleagues die of hunger." Al Jazeera, banned from operating in Israel, echoed those sentiments the following day. "The journalistic community and the world bear an immense responsibility; it is our duty to raise our voices and mobilise all available means to support our colleagues in this noble profession," the network's director-general, Mostefa Souag, said in a statement. "If we fail to act now, we risk a future where there may be no one left to tell our stories." One of their own journalists, Anas Al Sharif, broke down live on air as a woman collapsed outside a hospital behind him. In the video other Palestinians can be heard telling him: "Go on, Anas. Continue the coverage. You are our voice." On Wednesday more than 100 international humanitarian organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam and Save the Children, signed a statement to sound the alarm Gaza was on the brink of "mass starvation". Israel consistently rejects allegations it is fuelling the hunger crisis in Gaza — instead blaming Hamas for the situation and describing accounts of such conditions inside as propaganda. Yet in dismissing the reports emerging from the strip, it does not allow international media into Gaza to independently gather and verify information. Since the beginning of the war, access to Gaza has been almost non-existent. The Israeli government has argued that for the safety of journalists, it is "keeping them out". The only times journalists have been allowed to enter have been while under the direct supervision of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) — tightly controlled and choreographed visits, where the media are not generally allowed to interact with the local population. While the journalistic merit of such visits can be questioned, the ABC has made a number of requests to join one of those so-called "embeds" — but has not been afforded that opportunity, while major American and European media outlets are given spots. Those embeds have become even less regular since the last ceasefire — the last was believed to be when the IDF took a group of journalists to the European Hospital complex in Khan Younis in early June. Compare this to the situation in eastern Europe, where international journalists are able to operate inside most of Ukraine. The Foreign Press Association, representing international media operating in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, is trying to challenge those IDF restrictions in the country's Supreme Court — a process that has been repeatedly bogged down in delays and adjournments. All of that said, the foreign media is therefore reliant on Palestinian journalists inside Gaza to help tell the story of this war. And if they are now struggling to get out of bed every day, unable to pick up their cameras and microphones — quite aside from dealing with the severe connectivity issues in the strip that are hampering them getting images and video out to the world — that is deeply problematic. Notwithstanding the incredibly high number who have been killed in air strikes during the war, which the Committee to Protect Journalists puts at 186 since October 2023. There is no denying Hamas plays a role here. While tensions and trauma in Gaza have existed for decades, the current conflict — now in its 21st month — began when Hamas launched its deadly attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage by Hamas. 50 remain captive, 20 of whom are still believed to be alive. Israel's stated goal is the return of those hostages, and it is demanding that the militant group release them. Although there is no guarantee that would end the war, given the rhetoric from Israeli leaders in recent months about the total destruction of Hamas. Ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain stalled, and Hamas has been accused of using scenes of starvation to help it win international support. But it is Israel that holds the keys to aid deliveries. Israel imposed a total humanitarian aid blockade on the strip in March, stopping all trucks going into the occupied territory for almost three months as it tried to pressure Hamas to release Israeli hostages. While continuing to insist there were sufficient supplies for the population, it was forced to allow a partial easing of that blockade for essential items including flour and baby formula. It developed a new private aid delivery model, installing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as the distributor of food and other items, and announcing it would bypass established UN channels, which it said had been hijacked by Hamas. Gaza's health ministry and the United Nations say more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in shootings near GHF sites and truck convoys — figures GHF and the IDF deny are accurate, although Israeli authorities do not produce their own data on casualties at these sites. Late on Tuesday, the IDF's international spokesman published video on social platform X that it said showed 950 truckloads of aid sitting inside Gaza's borders waiting for the UN to pick it up and distribute it. The same account posted video purportedly showing Hamas fighters enjoying fresh bananas in subterranean tunnels, while Palestinians starved above. Aid agencies have not denied supplies are sitting inside the border, but they accuse Israeli forces of making it dangerously difficult to deliver them through the strip and refusing to guarantee safe passage for convoys to move through. GHF has offered its own security to help escort those convoys — something the United Nations and aid agencies would likely baulk at, given the idea of having armed escorts is typically seen as undermining the principle of humanitarian aid. There is also the issue of what role GHF has to play in that process, given it has regularly said it is only responsible for what happens inside the perimeters of its few distribution sites. The crisis that has ensued as a result of all this, and 21 months of bombing and shelling, is one of the biggest and most important stories in the world. But it will soon be more difficult to tell, as our colleagues struggle to help us tell it.
LBCI
16 hours ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Israel denies causing 'famine' in Gaza, blames Hamas
The Israeli government on Wednesday said it was not responsible for a chronic shortage of food in Gaza, instead accusing Palestinian militants Hamas of deliberately creating a crisis. "In Gaza today, there is no famine caused by Israel," government spokesman David Mencer told reporters after more than 100 aid and rights groups warned of "mass starvation" and urged Israel to unblock aid. "Hamas engineers a man-made shortage," Mencer added, accusing the militants of preventing food from being distributed and looting aid for themselves. AFP
The Standard
a day ago
- General
- The Standard
More than 100 NGOs warn 'mass starvation' spreading across Gaza
Palestinian children carry pots as they queue to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages in food supplies, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip December 14, 2023. REUTERS/Saleh Salem/File Photo
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Experts issue warning as beloved staple food could be wiped out: 'It's quite possible'
Experts issue warning as beloved staple food could be wiped out: 'It's quite possible' As a country whose history has been closely tied to rice cultivation, Japan's current "Reiwa rice crisis" is worse than just a dietary inconvenience. The staple crop shortage has put farmers, consumers, and politicians on edge as they worry that its entire future is under threat, the Guardian reported. What's happening? A perfect storm of factors have combined to trigger, and exacerbate, the crisis. Record-breaking temperatures made for a smaller-than-usual 2023 crop, so stockpiles were already lower than usual. Then, high numbers of tourists put a heavier-than-usual demand on the supply. Finally, a surge of typhoon and earthquake warnings earlier this year sent consumers into panic-buying mode, depleting what little stock was left. Now, prices are soaring and politicians are scrambling to address concerns across the board from farmers and consumers. The crisis is also exacerbated by the fact that Japan has long scorned the idea of importing rice, which means that as their supply dwindles, prices keep rising. Why is this crop shortage particularly concerning? Because the initial supply shortage was triggered by high temperatures, and because demand has been exacerbated by frequent and intense storms, many experts and climate advocates are pointing to the involvement of global heating in the Reiwa rice crisis, named after the current era of Japan. This is concerning, they say, because it may portend similar situations for other crops around the world. In fact, this pattern has already been playing out in many countries. In Pakistan, mango crops shrunk by over 40% as heat waves destroyed entire groves; in France, prized pink garlic plants were obliterated by enormous, unseasonal hail storms. It's all an unfortunate aspect of the reality of climate change: A warming atmosphere means changing weather patterns, and agriculture is highly susceptible to changes in weather. What options will Japan have in the future? Japan's current administration has tried several approaches, including releasing older rice bags from stockpiles and even importing foreign rice. While both of these offer more affordable options — about 50% and 10% cheaper than Japanese rice, respectively — they have yet to be widely accepted by consumers. The Guardian quoted an anonymous official from the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, who said, "We have never seen this much stock of imported rice brands on supermarket shelves. We are concerned that customers will turn away from domestic rice and choose imported options in the future." But as Kunihiko Osafune, a food expert and writer, explained, there may be no other option. "It's quite possible that in the near future we will no longer be able to eat Japanese rice," Osafune warned. However, scientists around the globe are also experimenting with ways to maintain crop stability despite surging atmospheric temperatures, from engineering drought-resistant varieties of staple crops to using high-tech drones to improve efficiency during planting. What is the biggest reason you don't grow food at home? Not enough time Not enough space It seems too hard I have a garden already Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Solve the daily Crossword
