Geopolitical instability, the energy crisis, supply difficulties, inflation and speculation are, as was easy to foresee, taking their toll. And, as always, it is the most vulnerable who pay the price. If at the beginning of 2022 there were "only" 13 million people in conditions of food insecurity in the Horn of Africa, by January of this year the figure had risen to 22 million people.

The worst food crisis in modern history

This is explained by the World Food Programme (WFP) in a report published on 23 January. The United Nations agency states that 2022 was, from the perspective of world hunger, "a catastrophic year": "The world is facing an unprecedented food crisis in terms of scale, the worst in modern history. Millions of people are at risk if measures are not taken to respond at scale to the drivers of this crisis."

United Nations Geneva @UNGeneva

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We need to act fast in the face of the global food crisis.

The number of people facing the worst forms of hunger continues to rise, while the resourcing gap grows.

Here's how @WFP is fighting back 👉 wfp.org/global-hunger-…

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As many as 828 million people go to bed every evening without having eaten enough. And those considered to be in conditions of "acute food insecurity" have nearly doubled since 2019, rising from 135 to 345 million. In Ethiopia alone the figure stands at 12 million; 5.6 million in Somalia and 4.3 million in Kenya.

The hungry in the Horn of Africa have nearly doubled since 2019

What is more, resources to support them are scarce. The WFP would need 22.2 billion dollars to be able to deliver assistance to those most in need, but, the UN agency itself explains, "with the global economy still in shock after the pandemic, the gap between what is needed and actual funding has never been so wide. We are at a crucial crossroads: everyone must mobilise, not just governments. Private sector businesses can support our work, not only through financial contributions but also through technical assistance and knowledge transfer."

The risk, the WFP emphasises, is of undoing at a stroke all the anti-hunger efforts made so far in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.

"We're taking food from the hungry to give it to those who are dying of hunger"

Africa and the Middle East are, in this sense, a litmus test: "In countries such as Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen we already have to face difficult decisions, such as cutting rations in order to reach more people. This means taking food from those who are hungry to give it to those who are dying of hunger. The consequences of failing to invest in resilience activities will be felt beyond national borders. If communities are unable to withstand the shocks and stresses to which they are exposed, this could lead to an increase in migration, and possible destabilisation and conflict."

World Food Programme ✓ @WFP

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Famine is the most disastrous form of prolonged, widespread hunger. And it is preventable.

Yet, 10x more people today are struggling for survival in famine-like conditions than just five years ago. bit.ly/3BsA3T2

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In the Horn of Africa, the situation has been further worsened by locust invasions and waves of drought, which have devastated harvests. Together with the lack of water that has affected livestock. More than 9.5 million animals have died, according to estimates from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.