Iraq, Afghanistan among 22 Food-Insecure Countries

UN FAO: 22 countries with 160 mn. people face protracted food crisis.

‘ Twenty-two countries are facing enormous challenges like repeated food crises and an extremely high prevalence of hunger due to a combination of natural disasters, conflict, and weak institutions. These countries are in what is termed a protracted crisis, FAO said in its “State of Food Insecurity in the World 2010” hunger report, jointly published today with the World Food Programme (WFP).

Chronic hunger and food insecurity are the most common characteristics of a protracted crisis. On average, the proportion of people who are undernourished in countries facing these complex problems is almost three times as high as in other developing countries. ‘

Note that Iraq and Afghanistan are among these tragic cases; I fear American rule hasn’t spared them that fate, if indeed it did not exacerbate their food woes.

(1996–2010)

Afghanistan
Angola
Burundi
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo
Côte d’Ivoire
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Guinea
Haiti
Iraq
Kenya
Liberia
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sudan
Tajikistan
Uganda
Zimbabwe

Sources: FAO GIEWS and Development Initiatives.