hunger

More than half of Yemen’s population needs aid and a humanitarian crisis of extreme proportions is at risk of unfolding in the country if instability continues, Oxfam warns today.

In response to WFP food cuts for Syrian refugees, Andy Baker who heads up Oxfam's response to the Syria crisis said: "Millions of Syrians have left their country to flee war, death and destruction. It is unthinkable to leave them hungry. Rich countries must step up and support the World Food Program."

People around the world are trapped in a ‘toxic triangle’ made up of short-term financial investors, timid governments and fossil fuel companies, which threatens to push up  global temperatures, putting 400 million people at risk of hunger and drought by 2060. 

Rising food costs, climate change and dramatic changes in land tenure are increasing the reality of hunger and leaving food-insecure people feeling they “are rated as the cheapest of the cheapest”.

One in four people in South Africa do not have enough to eat, and half the population is at risk of hunger, despite the country producing more than enough food.

South Africa is considered a ‘food-secure’ nation, producing enough calories to adequately feed every one of its 53 million people. However, the reality is that one in four people currently suffers hunger on a regular basis.

Agencies fear recent improvements will be wiped out as the number of severely hungry people will rise by one million in first three months of 2015.

Without an end to the fighting – and unless more aid can be delivered to those who need it – famine remains a serious threat in South Sudan in 2015. By committing to more vigorous diplomacy and swift action, the world has the chance to prevent that. 

Oxfam analyzes the commitments being brought by government and corporate sector leaders to the Climate Summit and reveals that they fall short of what is urgently needed.