ICRC: 346 Million People in Africa Suffer from Food Shortages

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has issued an urgent warning about an increase in the number of people suffering from hunger globally.

The ICRC has warned that Africa alone has about 346 million people who do not have enough food, representing a quarter of the continent's population, according to the German news agency.

"We are facing an emergency and rapidly deteriorating situation with regard to global food security, especially in parts of Africa and the Middle East," said Robert Mardini, Secretary-General of the ICRC.

He added that armed conflicts, instability, climatic shocks, and the secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have weakened the potential for resilience and recovery from shocks.

"The consequences of armed violence in Ukraine have worsened an already critical situation," he said.

Mardini stated that the situation is especially terrible in countries that have been suffering from war, instability, and armed violence for years, including Syria, Mali, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Ethiopia.