Global Hunger Crisis Worsening Amid Mideast War

Predictions that the Middle East war could drive tens of millions more people into acute hunger are proving to be accurate, the United Nations said Friday, warning that higher fuel and food costs linked to the conflict are deepening food insecurity far beyond the region.

"Pessimistic" predictions that the Middle East war could push tens of millions more people into acute hunger if drawn out are being proven right, the United Nations said Friday.

A few weeks after the US-Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28 sparked the conflict and plunged world energy markets into turmoil, the UN's World Food Programme warned that soaring oil prices were devastating global food security.

If oil prices were to remain around $100 per barrel until the end of June, an estimated 45 million more people worldwide would face acute hunger, the WFP warned in March.

They would come in addition to the nearly 320 million people considered acutely food insecure at the start of the year, it said.

Weeks of complicated talks marked by sharp rhetoric and flare-ups of violence have not managed to reach a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which is critical to oil supplies.

And now, nearly three months into the conflict, "the negative scenario is unfortunately materialising", Jean-Martin Bauer, the director of WFP's food and nutrition analysis service, told AFP.

"The closure of Hormuz is translating into increased hunger," he said, pointing to soaring costs for staples like rice and wheat.

"Unfortunately, the pessimistic projections that were made earlier this year are coming to pass, and we need to act."

- (FRANCE 24 with AFP)