“An absolute crisis is unfolding before our eyes in the Sahel,” warns WFP Chief

Africa, World: The United Nations has warned that the Sahel region ‘stares down a horrendous food crisis’ and the number of people of the area have been at the brink of starvation.

The UN mentioned that starvation has been increased by ten times over the past three years and has displaced by around 400 percent. For a few past years, the region has been dealing with its driest conditions.

David Beasley, World Food Programme Executive Director, stated that “An absolute crisis is unfolding before our eyes.” He further informed that the number of people of Sahelian nations of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger has been dealing with starvation has increased from 3.6 million to 10.5 million, just in three years.

While informing about the root cause of this problem in the countries, the executive director stated that insecurity, COVID-induced poverty, dramatic food cost increases and other compounding factors are the reason behind trajectory that had surpassed any previous crises.

Beasley further added, “I am continuously in touch with families who have been through more than you could imagine”.

David Beasley also took Twitter to inform about the crisis and informed that the organisation has been running out of ‘Dollars’ and the people dealing with the crisis have been running out of ‘hope’.

“An absolute crisis is unfolding before the eyes of the world in the Sahel. Families have been chased from their homes, starved by drought and plunged into despair by COVID's economic ripple effects. We're running out of $$$, and they're running out of HOPE!” tweeted the executive director.

According to the UN, the food relief agency needs around $470 million to continue its operations in the Sahel for the next five to six months. According to the official site, the WFP last year worked with humanitarian partners and supported around 9.3 million people across the five countries.