High-level Event: Action in Support of Preventing and Ending Famine Now

High-level Event: Action in Support of Preventing and Ending Famine Now

Intervention

By

Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

As delivered

4 October 2021

 

Excellences,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

1.         Today we face unprecedented food crises on multiple fronts.

 

2.         Starvation and hunger-related deaths are a present reality.

 

3.         Over the last year, FAO together with our partners issued repeated alerts about the sharp rise in the intensity and spread of high acute food insecurity.

 

4.         We have collectively urged for anticipatory action.

 

5.         And for the urgent allocation and disperse of 6.6 billion US Dollars in immediate funding,

 

6.         So we can act fast and decisively to avert famine and prevent more people from sliding towards emergency levels.

 

7.         As we near the end of 2021, the situation has continued to deteriorate.

 

8.         Over half a million people in 4 countries are experiencing catastrophic food insecurity.

 

9.         Over 41 million, based on FAO data, are on the very edge of famine in emergency conditions.

 

10.       Six months ago, when we formed the High-Level Task Force on Famine Prevention, I had hoped that by now I would have been talking about the positive progress made.

 

11.       But it is not so.

 

12.       For our part, FAO scaled-up all efforts and stepped-up collaboration with key partners to collectively deliver a range of humanitarian support,

 

13.       Because by working together, our efforts will be more impactful!

 

14.       FAO has continued expanding its resilience building efforts, especially in fragile contexts.

 

15.       In the 6 countries prioritized by the High-Level Task Force, FAO has helped at least 5.5 million people to produce critically needed food in just the last few months,

 

16.       Including through FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative and COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme.

 

17.       However, there remains a stark imbalance in funding within the food security component of humanitarian assistance.

 

18.       With a significant proportion of resources directed to food assistance alone, and emergency livelihoods assistance largely overlooked.

 

19.       Analysis by the Global Network Against Food Crises indicates that the agri-food sector is receiving less than 10% of the allocated humanitarian assistance,

 

20.       Despite it being the main source of livelihood for up to 80% of the people experiencing high acute food insecurity.

 

21.       This is unimaginable, and unacceptable!

 

22.       Food assistance and livelihoods assistance must be provided in tandem.

 

23.       Famine prevention must begin in rural areas, where it is most needed – and must focus on producing food and keeping livestock alive. 

 

24.       Emergency livelihoods assistance must ensure people have access to nutritious food, even when they are cut-off from all other forms of aid.

 

25.       It also lays the path to recovery, beyond just survival.

 

26.       When we neglect livelihoods in rural areas, we are forcing people to make choices between staying on their land and risking starvation,

 

27.       Or abandoning everything to move to camps or overcrowded cities in search of assistance and survival.

 

28.       When FAO provides farmers in Madagascar with cash and drought-tolerant seeds, we enable them to remain on their land, to continue producing food, to earn their own income and ensure their children are well nourished and educated.

 

29.       Livelihoods assistance is extremely cost-effective!

 

30.       Right now, hundreds of thousands of families in Yemen face the imminent threat of losing their sole source of income to easily preventable animal diseases.

 

31.       With just 8 US Dollars, FAO can vaccinate and de-worm an average herd of 5 sheep or goats, protecting assets worth $500 on the local market.

 

32.       With the additional benefit of improved milk production, often by at least 20%, which can have large impacts on household nutrition, especially for children.

 

33.       In South Sudan, we have provided essential livelihood packages to 545 000 families, with cereal and vegetable seeds and fishing kits, to ensure a steady supply of nutritious food for almost 3.3 million people.

 

34.       In Burkina Faso and Northern Nigeria, we were able to provide seeds, cash and other time-bound inputs to more than 700 000 people.

 

35.       But 1.4 million people missed the critical main planting season this year because the funds allocated were not sufficient.

 

36.       Across the 6 priority countries, FAO has received less than one-quarter of the resources needed for emergency livelihoods assistance.

 

37.       We remain deeply concerned about the crisis in Haiti, where resources have been few and livelihoods are under intense pressure due to COVID-19, the earthquake, livestock diseases and economic turbulence.

 

38.       In Afghanistan, during the past two months Martin and I and other colleagues have put in great effort, but I remain worried about the more hidden humanitarian needs in vast rural areas, where 70% of the population lives.

 

39.       In this regard, I wish to thank our Members for their generous support in averting a worsening crisis in the country.

 

40.       In East Africa, the outlook is alarming.

 

41.       The last two rainy seasons have been poor and the forecasts are not good.

 

42.       This will be the third consecutive season with scarce rains for crops and livestock - with significant implications for food security.

 

43.       Last year, FAO together with partners prevented a food crisis in the region during the desert locust upsurge.

 

44.       The return on investment has been huge. It is calculated at 2 to 15.

 

45.       Locust control and livelihood protection measures prevented massive losses of staple crops and livestock valued at over 1.5 billion US Dollars.

 

46.       And protected the food security of over 36 million people.

 

47.       We cannot afford to wait for a famine to be declared before we take action.

 

48.       The High-Level Task Force provides an opportunity to work collectively to raise advocacy and take preventative actions to avert famine.

 

49.       But humanitarian assistance alone is not enough.

 

50.       We need to work together to transform our agri-food systems so that they are more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

 

51.       There is no time to waste!

 

52.       As of today, only 150 million US Dollars have been received of the 6.6 billion needed.

 

53.       My colleague David Beasley will provide further information in this regard.

 

54.       A Better Future with a Better Life for all lies in your hands.

 

55.       Action now with tangible results.

 

56.       Let's work together!

 

57.       Thank you.