1 August 2018: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released a report that warns that droughts, floods, conflicts and other shocks could push millions of people into food insecurity and acute hunger, threatening their lives, well-being and future. Without urgent support to the world’s most underfunded crises, the report cautions, situations in these areas are likely to deteriorate in the second half of 2018.

The report titled, ‘Underfunded Appeals: Mid-year Update,’ identifies the following critical emergencies where the FAO’s resources to act are currently “extremely limited”:

• Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria, which are experiencing severe drought;
• Bangladesh, which has had a severe monsoon season;
• Iraq, Myanmar and the Sahel, which have been affected by lean agricultural seasons;
• the Central African Republic (CAR), which has had a resurgence of violence; and
• Haiti, which is facing the upcoming hurricane season.

The report presents a humanitarian response plan for each of the countries, illustrating both priority and overall financial requirements as well as priority activities. In Myanmar, FAO requires US$4.5 million to assist 77,000 people as a priority, with an overall funding gap of US$6.8 million to assist 180,000 people. FAO’s priority activities in Myanmar include rebuilding agricultural livelihoods affected by human-induced crises and natural disasters; supporting food security information and analysis and improving coordination; and strengthening national and local capacities, such as early warning systems and food security analysis and information.

FAO requires US$120 million to reach 3.6 million people for the remainder of 2018.

According to the mid-year update, FAO has received less than 30 percent of the US$1 billion that it requested to meet the urgent needs of 33 million people worldwide who are facing acute hunger and food insecurity. FAO stresses it requires US$120 million to reach 3.6 million people for the remainder of 2018, cautioning that without this funding these populations will be left behind and face rising hunger and humanitarian needs.

FAO emphasized that financial resources are urgently needed to tackle underfunded crisis areas and “ensure that no one is left behind.” In a press release, Director of FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division, Dominique Burgeon, explained that the world needs to “act now to provide urgent food security and livelihood interventions to save people’s lives, safeguard livelihoods and strengthen their resilience in the face of future crises.” Burgeon stressed that additional financial resources can help to avert further deterioration of food insecurity, one of the areas most neglected in 2018. [FAO Press Release] [Publication: Underfunded Appeals: Mid-year Update]