WFP Representative and Country Director in Mali, Eric Berdison, warned of food insecurity and the dangers of a hunger catastrophe in Mali, and called for urgent funding to increase emergency food and nutrition assistance to 3.8 million people in Mali, where violence, displacement and climate shocks exacerbate food insecurity. and malnutrition.
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According to the United Nations Information Centre, Eric Berdison confirmed that the World Food Program needs US$110 million over the next six months to continue providing food and nutrition assistance to vulnerable groups in Mali.
He stressed that funding constraints had already forced him to cut food rations by 50 percent for host communities in April and May, warning that he may have to make even deeper cuts starting in June unless he secures sufficient funding.
According to WFP, its enhanced response will target hard-to-reach areas such as Menaka, where numbers of people forced to flee their homes continue to rise and hunger has reached catastrophic levels due to the healing effects of extreme weather events and intercommunal violence.
Food insecurity has already reached alarming levels in Menaka, Eric Berdison said, calling for action now before it is too late to “avoid mass starvation”. “The consequences of inaction are unimaginable,” he said.
The World Food Program indicated that insecurity, climatic shocks and high food prices continue to drive acute hunger and malnutrition in Mali, as the number of people facing difficulty in obtaining adequate food is expected to rise to 1.2 million during the dry season from June to June. September.
The UN official confirmed that the World Food Program plans to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to 3.8 million people in Mali during the current year, including 650,000 people during the pre-drought season and 1.2 million people during the dry season, and is currently cooperating with the Security Committee. Food in Mali distributed cash assistance to support 487,500 people from the host community and 162,500 displaced people, giving them the opportunity to shop in local markets.
