The humanitarian organization has hinted that the number of people facing acute food insecurity could move up to 265 million by the end of the year.
It is estimated that about 135 million people are acutely hungry across the world, but 130 million more could add to that category due to the pandemic.
This was disclosed by the chief economist and director of research, assessment and monitoring at the World Food Programme (WFP), Arif Husain.
“COVID-19 is potentially catastrophic for millions who are already hanging by a thread,” he said.
“We all need to come together to deal with this because if we don’t the cost will be too high – the global cost will be too high: many lost lives and many, many more lost livelihoods.”
Mr. Husain said it was critical to ensure that vendors, farmers and others living from hand-to-mouth do not sell off all their assets just to survive.
“These were the people we were concerned about – those who were OK before Covid and now they are not,” he said, adding he was “really worried” about people living in countries with little or no government safety nets.
Last year, WFP raised a record $8.3 billion to assist countries battling hunger. This year, the amount needed is expected to be between $10-$12 billion.
