WFP "Population Facing Hunger Crisis in Africa's Sahel Region Increases Tenfold in 3 Years"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) appealed to the international community on the 17th (local time) for support, stating that the hunger problem in the Sahel region, located south of the Sahara Desert in Africa, is becoming severe.

According to the WFP, the Sahel region has recently faced a severe food shortage, causing the population at risk of hunger to surge nearly tenfold from 141,000 in 2019 to over 1 million. The Sahel region includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.

Currently, 10.5 million people in the region suffer from food shortages, a threefold increase compared to 3.6 million in 2019. The number of residents displaced due to food shortages has increased by 400% during the same period.

This is the result of several years of persistent drought, conflicts, and the impact of COVID-19 combined. The WFP appealed for urgent relief funds of $470 million (approximately 563 billion KRW) over the next six months to resolve the food crisis in the Sahel region.

David Beasley, Executive Director of the WFP, said, "A life-or-death crisis is unfolding right before our eyes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.