The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program are calling for urgent and immediate action to address the worsening food insecurity in Haiti.
In a report released in November, the UN-FAO and the WFP estimate that 4 million people – 40% of the Haitian population – are in a Phase 3 or Phase 4 state of food insecurity.
According to The Integrated Food Security Classification Framework (IPC), Phase 3 is defined as “Acute Food Crisis: Significant food consumption deficits, resulting in high and above normal levels of acute malnutrition.”
Phase 4 is defined as “Humanitarian Emergency: Extreme food consumption deficits, resulting in very high levels of acute malnutrition and excess mortality.”
Extreme weather conditions, socio-political crises, the climate of insecurity, and the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 are among the major factors that have contributed to the worsening of food insecurity, which is forecasted to become even worse through the middle of 2021.
The UN-FAO report stresses the need to “redouble efforts through urgent and coordinated action to contain the risks of worsening hunger and malnutrition, and to strengthen the resilience of rural communities disproportionately affected by the harmful effects of the crisis.”
