GENEVA, Switzerland — The UN on Tuesday made an urgent appeal for funds to help the
Central African Republic (CAR) face a mounting food crisis.
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The
UN’s World Food Program (WFP) said 2.2 million people in the war-torn country of 5.5 million
were acutely food insecure, and their plight was likely to worsen during the
coming months.
“The Central
African Republic is facing unprecedented humanitarian needs and a deteriorating
food security situation,” WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri told reporters in Geneva.
“Food insecurity in
the CAR is driven by the combined effects of the protracted internal armed
conflict, persistent insecurity and population displacement.”
He said a sharp
increase in commodity prices was expected from August, with rice expected to go
up by 30 percent, wheat flour by 67 percent and vegetable oil by 70 percent.
WFP said it had
struggled to pre-position food stocks in shortage areas ahead of the rainy
season from July to September, which hampers access to much of the country.
Phiri said it was
taking longer to get food into the CAR and it was also difficult to get fuel.
He said the WFP was
urgently appealing for $68.4 million.
“Without immediate funding,
food and nutrition insecurity will only increase for millions of people,” he
said.
WFP may have to
reallocate food from people who are hungry “to feed those who are hungrier”,
said Phiri.
“Given the current
levels of food insecurity and operational constraints, we expect the
humanitarian needs to further deteriorate.
“Our teams are
telling us that humanitarian assistance will be required well beyond 2022 and
into 2023.”
Along with
Afghanistan, Yemen, and South Sudan, the CAR has one of the highest proportions
of the population in acute food insecurity.
One of the world’s
poorest countries, the CAR has been torn apart by civil wars for much of the
past nine years, though the fighting has dropped in intensity since 2018.
In 2013, a
Muslim-dominated rebellion overthrew president Francois Bozize, sparking
reprisals from predominantly Christian and animist militias.
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