Countries should act fast and contribute to ensuring uninterrupted food supplies to the poorest countries to contain the expected global food crisis caused by the economic slowdown amid COVID-19, as existing stockpiles will last only for "a couple of months," UN World Food Program (WFP) Senior Regional Communications Officer for the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Abeer Etefa told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2020) Countries should act fast and contribute to ensuring uninterrupted food supplies to the poorest countries to contain the expected global food crisis caused by the economic slowdown amid COVID-19, as existing stockpiles will last only for "a couple of months," UN World Food Program (WFP) Senior Regional Communications Officer for the middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Abeer Etefa told Sputnik.
According to the WFP estimates released on Tuesday, the number of people facing acute food insecurity worldwide could almost double in 2020 and plummet from 135 million to 265 million due to the economic consequences of the pandemic.
"We have enough for a couple of months, but we need [more] � it takes time to receive a contribution, it takes some time to procure for the international market, shipping it and sending it to countries across the world until the moment it gets in hands of the beneficiaries. It is a supply chain for at least two months," Etefa warned.
She stated that to prevent large-scale food shortages, quick action was needed, as filling the stocks takes up to two months. According to her, the world is facing border closures and disturbances on the international food market and soon it will come to the point "where we will struggle to have the pipeline going."
"I think if we start now to act together, and countries do not lock their resources and focus on the problems inside only, we have the potential to contain the problem before it becomes a catastrophe. But we have to act now. When will this happen � it all depends on how fast we act. We need to act now and we need to act fast, and this is going to determine the future," Etefa said.
Etefa pointed out that the number of people facing hunger had been decreasing over the past years, but could double in only a year.
"For many years, the number of food-insecure people was decreasing, now we are seeing a moment where we are at risk and we could see this number double, and that is really quite significant," the spokeswoman noted.
Etefa stressed that the WFP was in no way advocating for countries to ease the lockdown measures and open their borders, but said that preventive action was crucial.
"There is going to be a huge impact on the millions of people around the world, who are dependent on their wages to feed their families ... Our job is to raise awareness about this crisis and the future of millions of people who will be impacted by that," she said.
According to the Johns Hopkins University count, more than 2.7 million people have contracted the coronavirus disease to date, and over 190,000 people have died worldwide.
