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Prevent the Next Food Crisis Now

The number of chronically hungry people increased by an estimated 130 million last year, to more than 800 million – about eight times the number of COVID-19 cases to date. The international community needs to adopt an anticipatory approach to the growing hunger pandemic, by acting before food emergencies turn into full-blown famines.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, DC – The toxic cocktail of climate change, conflict, and COVID-19 is making itself felt most intensely in the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries. As a result, a record 235 million people worldwide will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2021 – an increase of 40% from last year.

It can be hard to wrap one’s head around such numbers. But behind the statistics are individual human lives. For the most vulnerable people, the pandemic’s secondary effects – not the coronavirus itself – will cause the most damage. And the hunger pandemic triggered by COVID-19 threatens to be the biggest killer.

The number of chronically hungry people increased by an estimated 130 million last year, to more than 800 million – about eight times the total number of COVID-19 cases to date.

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