Hunger has reached record levels in Haiti in the midst of the current spiral of violence in the depressed Caribbean country, the World Food Program (WFP) revealed this Thursday, warning that “at the current rate” the organization could run out of food reserves by the end of April.
In a statement, the UN program said it only has enough food in the country to feed 175,000 people for a month, as the closure of the main port and airport, approximately 30 days ago, has interrupted the flow of supplies to the nation.
In that order, the information indicates that food insecurity in Haiti has reached levels not seen since the 2010 earthquake, with half of the population, of about 11 million people, in acute food insecurity.
The PMU “It is doing everything possible to reach the most vulnerable people, but at the current rate we will run out of food reserves by the end of April,” Jean-Martin Bauer, director of the organization in Haiti, said in the note.
The port in the capital needs to be reopened immediately to bring in new supplies and unimpeded access to transport food across the country. “to ensure the continuity of our programs”he added.
Since March 1, coinciding with the new crisis, the PMU claims, for example, that it has provided food to more than 500,000 people throughout the country, 290,000 children have received hot meals in schools and it has prioritized the purchase of locally produced food. .
Food prices in Haiti are skyrocketing, putting affordable meals out of reach for millions of families, the note added.
According to a PMU market analysis, the price of corn from March 2023 to March 2024 increased by 42%and that of rice a 35%.
At the same time, he adds, violence continues to erode food security and more than two out of three households saw significant drops in their income, and seven out of ten departments reported higher food prices than in January.
The first IPC analysis of acute malnutrition in Haiti found that nearly 277,000 children under 2 years of age face or are expected to face acute malnutrition by November 2024, including 125,000 children who are severely malnourished .
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Source: Gestion
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