Movement restrictions caused by COVID-19 and its inherent impact on revenue shortfalls would cause 130 million people to join the 135 million persons struck by a shortage of food across the globe, the WFP said on Tuesday.
The United Nations World Food Programme is expecting around 265 million people to suffer from acute hunger round the world.
Movement restrictions caused by COVID-19 and its inherent impact on revenue shortfalls would cause 130 million people to join the 135 million persons struck by a shortage of food across the globe, the WFP said on Tuesday.
“COVID-19 is potentially catastrophic for millions who are hanging by a thread,” Chief Economist and Director of Research, Assessment and Monitoring at WFP, Arif Husain, said.
“We all need to come together to deal with this because if we don’t, the cost will be too high – many lost lives and many more lost livelihoods,” Reuters quotes him as telling reporters at a virtual briefing in Geneva, Switzerland.
Already, farmers across Nigeria have warned that the predictions made by bodies like the WFP will become reality soon if they are not allowed to take advantage of the rainy season which starts in May.
They told SaharaReporters that they are unable to get seedlings, source rice paddy for processing or bring in seasoned farm hands to cultivate their lands.
Others said they were unable to hold on to their staff and their overheads were running out of hand.