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PREVIEW OF THE BLACK HORSEMAN. INFLATION, SCARCITY, STARVATION, ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, DAY’S WAGES FOR A MEASURE OF FOOD.

This picture taken on April 6, 2023 shows a view of a failed wheat field during a drought in Medjez el-Bab in northern Tunisia

HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS EXACERBATING FOOD INSECURITY, WITH DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCES FOR IMPORT-RELIANT MIDDLE EAST

Updated 27 July 2024 Nada Alturki  July 26, 202423:19     ARAB NEWS

RIYADH: Global food insecurity is far worse than previously thought. That is the conclusion of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 report published this week by a coalition of UN entities, which found that efforts to tackle undernourishment had suffered serious setbacks.

As countries across the world fall significantly short of achieving the second UN Sustainable Development Goal of “zero hunger” by 2030, the report notes that climate change is increasingly recognized as a pivotal factor exacerbating hunger and food insecurity.

As a major food importer, the Middle East and North Africa region is considered especially vulnerable to climate-induced crop failures in source nations and the resulting imposition of protectionist tariffs and fluctuations in commodity prices.

“Climate change is a driver of food insecurity for the Middle East, where both the global shock and the local shock matter,” David Laborde, director of the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, told Arab News.

“Now, especially for the Middle East, I think that the global angle is important because the Middle East is importing a lot of food. Even if you don’t have a (climate) shock at home, if you don’t have a drought or flood at home — if it’s happened in Pakistan, if it’s happened in India, if it’s happened in Canada — the Middle East will feel it.”

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report has been compiled annually since 1999 by FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the UN Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization to monitor global progress toward ending hunger. 

During a recent event at the UN headquarters in New York, the report’s authors emphasized the urgent need for creative and fair solutions to address the financial shortfall for helping those nations experiencing severe hunger and malnutrition made worse by climate change. 

In addition to climate change, the report found that factors like conflict and economic downturns are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, impacting the affordability of a healthy diet, unhealthy food environments, and inequality.

In this photo taken on July 2, 2022, Iraqi farmer Bapir Kalkani inspects his wheat farm in the Rania district near the Dukan reservoir, northwest of Iraq’s northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah, which has been experiencing bouts of drought due to a mix of factors including lower rainfall and diversion of inflowing rivers from Iran.

Indeed, food insecurity and malnutrition are intensifying due to persistent food price inflation, which has undermined economic progress globally. 

“There is also an indirect effect that we should not neglect — how climate shock interacts with conflict,” said Laborde.

In North Africa, for example, negative climate shocks can lead to more conflict, “either because people start to compete for natural resources, access to water, or just because you may also have some people in your area that have nothing else to do,” he said.

“There are no jobs, they cannot work on their farm, and so they can join insurgencies or other elements.”

DID YOUKNOW?

Up to 757 million people endured hunger in 2023 — the equivalent of one in 11 worldwide and one in five in Africa.

Global prevalence of food insecurity has remained unchanged for three consecutive years, despite progress in Latin America.

There has been some improvement in the global prevalence of stunting and wasting among children under five.

In late 2021, G20 countries pledged to take $100 billion worth of unused Special Drawing Rights, held in the central banks of high-income countries and allocate them to middle- and low-income countries.

Since then, however, this pledged amount has fallen $13 billion short, with those countries with the worst economic conditions receiving less than 1 percent of this support. 

Protesters set out empty plates to protest hunger aimed at G20 finance ministers gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 25, 2024.

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that has exceeded its 20 percent pledge, alongside Australia, Canada, China, France, and Japan, while others have failed to reach 10 percent or have ceased engagement altogether.

“Saudi Arabia is a very large state in the Middle East, so what they do is important, but also they have a financial capacity that many other countries don’t,” said Laborde.

“It can be through their SDRs. It can also be through their sovereign fund because where you invest matters and how you invest matters to make the world more sustainable. So, I will say yes, prioritizing investment in low- and middle-income countries on food and security and nutrition-related programs can be important.

Although the prevalence of undernourishment in Saudi Arabia has fallen in recent years, the report shows that the rate of stunting in children has actually increased by 1.4 percent in the past 10 years.

There has also been an increase in the rates of overweight children, obesity, and anemia in women as the population continues to grow. In this sense, it is not so much a lack of food but a dearth of healthy eating habits.

“Saudi Arabia is a good example where I would say traditional hunger and the lack of food … become less and less a problem, but other forms of malnutrition become actually what is important,” said Laborde. 

In 2023, some 2.33 billion people worldwide faced moderate or severe food insecurity, and one in 11 people faced hunger, made worse by various factors such as economic decline and climate change.

The affordability of healthy diets is also a critical issue, particularly in low-income countries where more than 71 percent of the population cannot afford adequate nutrition.

In countries like Saudi Arabia where overeating is a rising issue, Laborde suggests that proper investment in nutrition and health education as well as policy adaptation may be the way to go. 

While the Kingdom continues to extend support to countries in crisis, including Palestine, Sudan, and Yemen, through its humanitarian arm KSrelief, these states continue to grapple with dire conditions. Gaza in particular has suffered as a result of the war with Israel.

A shipment of food aid from Saudi Arabia is loaded on board a cargo vessel at the Jeddah Islamic Port to be delivered to Port Said in Egypt for Palestinians in Gaza.

“Even before the beginning of the conflict, especially at the end of last year, the situation in Palestine was complicated, both in terms of agricultural system (and) density of population. There was already a problem of malnutrition,” said Laborde.

“Now, something that is true everywhere, in Sudan, in Yemen, in Palestine, when you start to add conflict and military operations, the population suffers a lot because you can actually destroy production. You destroy access to water. But people also cannot go to the grocery shop when the truck or the ship bringing food is disrupted.”

While Palestine and Sudan are the extreme cases, there are still approximately 733 million people worldwide facing hunger, marking a continuation of the high levels observed over the past three years. 

“On the ground, we work with the World Food Programme (and) with other organizations, aimed at bringing food to the people in need in Palestine,” Laborde said of FAO’s work. “Before the conflict and after, we will also be working on rebuilding things that need to be rebuilt. But without peace, there are limited things we can do.”

FAO helps food-insecure nations by bringing better seeds, animals, technologies, and irrigation solutions to develop production systems, while also working to protect livestock from pests and disease by providing veterinary services and creating incentives for countries to adopt better policies.

The report’s projections for 2030 suggest that around 582 million people will continue to suffer from chronic undernourishment, half of them in Africa. This mirrors levels observed in 2015 when the SDGs were adopted, indicating a plateau in progress.

The report emphasizes the need to create better systems of financial distribution as per this year’s theme: “Financing to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition.”

“In 2022, there were a lot of headlines about global hunger, but today, this has more or less disappeared when the numbers and the people that are hungry have not disappeared,” said Laborde, referring to the detrimental impact of the war in Ukraine on world food prices.

“We have to say that we are not delivering on the promises that policymakers have made. The world today produces enough food, so it’s much more about how we distribute it, how we give access. It’s a man-made problem, and so it should be a man-made solution.”

GLOBAL HUNGER CRISIS SET BACK 15 YEARS, UN REPORT REVEALS 

In 2023, approximately 733 million people worldwide faced hunger, marking a continuation of the high levels observed over the past three years

Updated 24 July 2024 Arab News July 24, 202416:50

RIYADH: The 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, or SOFI, report, jointly published on Wednesday by five UN agencies under the theme “Financing to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition,” highlighted the deepening global food crisis. 

The heads of the five UN agencies — the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, World Food Programme, and UNICEF — emphasized the urgent need for increased and more efficient financing to address these complex challenges. They called for transformative measures in agrifood systems, equitable access to resources, and enhanced international cooperation to mitigate the impacts of food insecurity and malnutrition.

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said: “Transforming agrifood systems is more critical than ever as we face the urgency of achieving the SDGs within six short years. FAO remains committed to supporting countries in their efforts to eradicate hunger and ensure food security for all. 

“We will work together with all partners and with all approaches, including the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, to accelerate the needed change. Together, we must innovate and collaborate to build more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems that can better withstand future challenges for a better world,” Qu added.

The report, unveiled during the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil, underscored that the international community is falling significantly short of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2, zero hunger, by 2030. Highlighting a setback of 15 years in progress, the report compares current undernourishment levels to those last seen in 2008-2009.

In 2023, approximately 733 million people worldwide faced hunger, marking a continuation of the high levels observed over the past three years. This equates to one in 11 people globally, with the situation particularly dire in Africa, where one in five individuals grappled with food insecurity.

While there have been some gains in specific areas such as reducing stunting and promoting exclusive breastfeeding, the overall number of undernourished people is at a constant, ranging between 713 and 757 million in 2023. Regional disparities persist, with hunger increasing in Western Asia, the Caribbean, and several African subregions, while remaining stable in Asia and showing improvement in Latin America.

The report’s projections for 2030 suggest that around 582 million people will continue to suffer from chronic undernourishment, half of them in Africa. This mirrors levels observed in 2015 when the SDGs were adopted, indicating a plateau in progress.

Beyond hunger, the report highlights broader challenges in food security and nutrition. In 2023, 2.33 billion people faced moderate or severe food insecurity, worsened by various factors such as economic decline and climate change. 

The affordability of healthy diets is also a critical issue, particularly in low-income countries where over 71 percent of the population cannot afford adequate nutrition.

Despite gains in exclusive breastfeeding rates and reductions in child stunting, the world is still faced with many challenges. Rates of wasting among children and adult obesity are concerningly high, states the report, and indicate a double burden of malnutrition affecting global populations.

“The fastest route out of hunger and poverty is proven to be through investments in agriculture in rural areas. But the global and financial landscape has become far more complex since the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015,” said IFAD President Alvaro Lario. 

“Ending hunger and malnutrition demands that we invest more — and more smartly. We must bring new money into the system from the private sector and recapture the pandemic-era appetite for ambitious global financial reform that gets cheaper financing to the countries who need it most,’’ Lario added.

The report urges unified global action to achieve SDGs by 2030 by adopting and prioritizing innovative solutions and substantial investments to ensure that all people have access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food.

The SOFI report is an annual assessment providing insights into global progress toward ending hunger, improving food security, and advancing nutrition under the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its findings are intended to guide policymakers, international organizations, and the public in addressing these pressing global challenges.

GLOBAL HUNGER INCREASING BUT FUNDING OF AID PROGRAMS DECLINING, SAYS TOP WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME OFFICIAL IN GCC

ARAB NEWS

Sudanese girls who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan’s Darfur region, receive rice portions from Red Cross volunteers in Ourang on the outskirts of Adre, Chad July 25, 2023.

DUBAI: As conflict, natural disasters and climate change stalk swathes of the world, a simultaneous epidemic is spreading: an estimated 345 million people in 79 countries are facing acute hunger.

Abdel-Mageed Yahia, director of World Food Programme’s UAE office and representative for the Gulf Cooperation Council region, says that unless food needs are met, the hunger epidemic may become catastrophic.

“It’s true that this year, we are facing an unprecedented hunger level,” he said during a special interview with Arab News Japan recorded in Dubai.

“We said 2023 is going to be a difficult year, although we had a lot of success in 2022 when we were able to reach around 140 million people.”

Of the more than 340 million facing hunger in the world, he added, 40 million are “in the extreme level of hunger, which is one step away from famine.”

According to Yahia, “all of it starts with the conflicts which we are seeing in different parts of the world, from the Middle East to Africa, from the Horn of Africa and the Sahel to Afghanistan.”

Climate change is also playing a major role, he said, adding: “Economic downturn is another cause, which is the impact of COVID-19.”

Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, better known as climate change, can be natural, but almost all research suggests humans are overwhelmingly responsible for global warming in the last 200 years.

Conflict, however, is the “number one” driver of food insecurity, Yahia said.

“If I can give you the example of Sudan, in a matter of just four months since the start of the conflict, you have around four million people who are displaced, who have either moved to another location inside Sudan or fled the country to neighboring countries.

“This has created a burden for the countries of destination, such as South Sudan, that were already struggling to offer assistance (to existing displaced populations).”

Such a situation is not unique to Sudan and its neighbors. Yahia, who was WFP representative, country director and emergency coordinator in Jordan, responsible for one of the largest WFP emergency operations in the Middle East region, has first-hand experience dealing with food crises.

He pointed out that hosting approximately half a million Syrian refugees whom the WFP supports in Jordan, plus a million more in Lebanon, similarly adds to the challenges already being faced by recipient countries.

While shifts in weather patterns, wars and pandemics are nothing new, the occurrence of all these events at once has forced the WFP to “prioritize,” Yahia said.

“In other words, take from the hungry to give to the starving. That is the situation we are exactly in. When you are faced with an increasing number of populations in need of humanitarian assistance on the one hand and decreasing funds on the other hand, that’s exactly what you do,” he said.

“We are struggling also with funding, because there are now, call it competing priorities, from Afghanistan to Yemen, to Syria, to the Horn of Africa, to the Sahel, to Sudan.”

He said the WFP will most likely be unable to raise the $24 billion it needs to reach 170 million of the world’s most vulnerable.

“I remember, about 15 years ago, we were talking in the WFP if we will be able to manage two crises at a time. But now, we are talking about more than 10 crises that are going on at the current time. And you see the effect of all this,” Yahia said. 

“Last year was a success because we were able to raise $14 billion and reach 140 million people. But this year, our estimate is that we may be able to reach or raise even $10 billion. So, the situation is that hunger is increasing on one side and funding is declining on the other side, which put us in a really difficult situation.”

Against this backdrop, Saudi Arabia has stepped in to save a critically important food aid program in Jordan. In August, the WFP welcomed a donation of $6.8 million from KSrelief, which made possible the continuation of its food assistance programs for Syrian refugees living in camps in Jordan.

The latest contribution is far from the Kingdom’s first: since its inception in 2015, KSrelief has contributed more than $1.25 billion to the WFP for schemes in 26 countries.

With the influx of displaced people increasing demand for food in already war-ravaged countries, the conflict in Sudan has disrupted essential supply chains and trade routes.

“This donation helped to rescue the operations in Jordan, rescue … the food pipeline that we have maintained to the refugees inside the camps. On Sept. 1, we were supposed to announce that we are cutting or reducing the assistance to the population in the camps. The (donation) came as a (timely) rescue of our operation in Jordan and we will see immediate effects,” Yahia said.

“The refugees in camps will continue to receive their vouchers or food rations continuously. However, there are also other refugees still, because this contribution is directed toward the refugees in the camps.

“There are refugees outside the camps. Should we not receive contributions from other donors, we will still face the situation of opting for that solution, which is a very hard decision to make. But the Saudi contribution was a real rescue of our operation in Jordan and well timed, too.”

With the influx of displaced people increasing demand for food in already war-ravaged countries, the conflict in Sudan has disrupted essential supply chains and trade routes.

“When you have a country in this crisis, import of food is disrupted, trade routes are disrupted, and so on and so forth. So, it does not look good. It was not looking good even before the crisis, and now it is going in absolutely the wrong direction,” Yahia said.

“But we are there on the ground. We started a cross-border operation from Chad into West Darfur, and then reached other areas in Sudan. With difficulty, we have been able to reach Khartoum, but (as I said) with difficulty. Access remains an issue for us.”

HUNGERFACTS

* 783m People worldwide unsure of where their next meal will come from.

* 345m People facing high levels of food insecurity globally in 2023.

* 129,000 People in Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan set to experience famine.

* $25.6m Saudi donation to the WFP for Syrian refugees in Jordanian camps since 2021.

Yahia reiterated that nearly half of the Sudanese population is experiencing food insecurity. The situation was dire even before violence erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group on April 15.

“The conflict came and added more oil to the fires that were already burning,” he said. “Sudan was a host to refugees from other countries as well, despite the (precarious) economic situation. So, 19 million people are projected to need humanitarian assistance. Now we are facing issues like access because of the security situation.”

While the Sudan crisis and climate change wreak havoc on famished populations in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, one conflict threatens the food security of the entire world: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Given that the two supplied more than a quarter of the world’s wheat — 40 percent of WFP’s supplies of the cereal — the 2022 invasion threatened to cause a massive food shortage and spike in food prices worldwide, particularly for countries relying on food aid.

“We have seen, of course, sharp increases in April 2022 following the eruption of the war there, which at that time (compounded the rise) in shipping costs because you had the effect of the COVID, of the supply chain disruption at that time,” Yahia said.

bdel-Mageed Yahia, director of the UAE Office & Representative to the GCC, UN World Food Programme, speaking during an interview with Arab News en Francais Regional Manager Ali Itani.

Global food prices have returned to pre-invasion levels, he said, but warned that the ongoing conflicts may cause the supply situation to deteriorate once again.

“We will continue to see a reduction in the production of food in Ukraine because farmers cannot access their farms because of landmines, because of (problems in getting) access to ports, and so on,” he said.

According to Yahia, the WFP was able to provide approximately two billion meals to Ukrainians affected by war, and has maintained its presence on the ground as a third of Ukrainians still face food insecurity.

In July Russia withdrew from a year-old UN and Turkiye-brokered agreement that had allowed grain, foodstuffs, fertilizers and other commodities to be shipped from Ukraine’s blockaded Black Sea ports to some of the world’s most food-insecure countries.

Yahia says the collapse of the grain deal and closure of the critical Black Sea corridor could have effects far beyond the borders of Ukraine. “This might see an increase, of course, of the shipping costs to source these commodities from elsewhere in the world,” he said.

Boys stand in line as they wait to receive meals from a charity kitchen in Sanaa, Yemen.

Though conflict is the main reason for the spread of hunger worldwide, climate change is also playing a major role in causing food insecurity, according to Yahia, who has more than 30 years’ experience working in the humanitarian field and has served in areas devasted by wars, genocide, famine as well as natural disasters. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2019 report Climate Change and Land stated that climate change has already begun to affect food security, particularly in low-latitude regions and arid climates of Africa.

Pastoral societies, the report added, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of changing climate.

“Climate is playing a role similar to conflict when it comes to reduction in the production of food, in terms of displacement of population, as we saw last year in the Horn of Africa, Somalia and Ethiopia among other places,” Yahia said.

“I think climate is really playing a big role here. It can no longer be talked about inside just closed rooms. Climate is a real thing affecting global food security.”

*******

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and UNDERSTAND THAT I AM HE: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

Isaiah 52:6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore THEY SHALL KNOW IN THAT DAY THAT I AM HE THAT DOTH SPEAK: BEHOLD, IT IS I.

Luke 21:28 And WHEN THESE THINGS BEGIN TO COME TO PASS, THEN LOOK UP, AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS; FOR YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH.

*******

In His Service,

Night Watchman

Paul Rolland

Night Watchman Ministries

www.nightwatchman.blog

https://nightwatchmanministries.substack.com

Make Your (7) Decision for Christ NOW!!!!!!! Time is Up!!!!!!!

Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:

The ABCs (7) of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)

1. (7) Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask (7) God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.

. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).

B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that (7) Jesus Christ is who He claimed to (7) be; that He was both fully God (7) and fully man and that we are (7) saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. (7) Put your trust in Him as your (7) only hope of salvation. Become a son (7) or daughter of God by receiving Christ. (7777777) 7×7

. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).

C. Call upon His name, Confess (7) with your heart and with your lips (7) that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).

TAGS: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, White Horseman, Red Horseman, Black Horseman, Pale Horseman, False Peace, False Security, Antichrist, War, Conflict, Destruction, Economic Collapse, Inflation, Economic Scales, Wheat for a Day’s Wages, Scarcity, Famine, Starvation, Pestilence, Disease, Death, Plagues, Hell, End Times, Tribulation, Seven Seals of the Tribulation, First Four Seals, Start of the Seven Year Tribulation, Day of the Lord, Vision 2030