Tag: peak food

South Asia
Indian Farmers

Farmers’ march on Delhi met with repression

Amnesty International released a statement decrying the Indian government’s disproportionate restrictions on the right to peaceful protest instated to quell the “Dilli Chalo” (on to Delhi) farmers protest. In response to farmers’ cross-country mobilization to protest agricultural policies, Indian authorities imposed limitations on group gatherings, erected barricades along the route of the march, and used tear-gas and rubber bullets against the farmers. (Photo: Ravan Khosa via Wikimedia Commons)

Palestine
Rafah

Netanyahu orders ‘evacuation’ of southern Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to draw up plans for the “evacuation” of Palestinians from Rafah in southern Gaza as it prepares to launch a full-scale assault on the area. Where people would be evacuated to—and how—remains unclear. Over one million Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israel’s military campaign—now entering its fifth month—have been pushed into Rafah. Aid groups warn that there is nowhere left for people to flee to. People in Rafah are already experiencing disease and starvation, and aid operations are struggling to meet even basic needs. A ground invasion would “exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. (Photo: Yousef Hammash/NRC)

Africa
Ethiopia

Ethiopian regions battle starvation

Nearly 400 people have died of starvation in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions in recent months, according to the national ombudsman. This is a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal body—the government normally dismisses famine warnings as “politicking.” Despite the lifting of a nationwide food aid freeze imposed by USAID and the World Food Program over large-scale government-linked food thefts, just 14% of 3.2 million people targeted for food relief in Tigray received rations last month. There have reportedly been technical problems over fitting GPS trackers to food trucks and putting QR codes on ration cards. A lack of money is also an issue: the UN called on donors last month to urgently ramp up funding to avoid a catastrophe in Tigray, Amhara, Afar, Oromia, and southern Ethiopia, where some 4 million people need immediate food aid. (Map via EthioVisit)

Africa
Sudan

US sanctions Sudan companies accused of funding war

The US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on a Sudanese financial institution and two private companies accused of funding belligerents in the ongoing civil war in the African country. The sanctions name Alkhaleej Bank and metal ore company Al-Fakher Advanced Works, said to be controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as well as development company Zadna International, controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The Treasury Department accused the companies of fueling the conflict, laundering money, and engaging in “actions or policies that threaten the peace, security and stability of Sudan.” (Map: PCL)

Palestine
Gaza

What UNRWA funding suspensions mean for Gaza

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, was plunged into crisis when Israel accused12 of its Gaza employees of involvement in Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In response to the Israeli allegations, the US, UK, Germany, and other top donor countries suspended funding to UNRWA. In a statement, nearly two dozen aid organizations said they are “deeply concerned and outraged” by the suspension of funding, as some 2.3 million people in Gaza face “starvation, looming famine and an outbreak of disease under Israel’s continued indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate deprivation of aid.” (Photo: Maan News Agency)

Palestine
Gaza

Urgent action needed to prevent starvation in Gaza

After more than 100 days of war and Israeli siege, every single person in Gaza is hungry, and a quarter of the population—or around 500,000 people—is starving, UN experts warned. The aid response is falling short of what is needed to prevent a deadly combination of hunger, malnutrition, and disease, four UN agencies said, calling for a “fundamental step change in the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.” Without it, deaths from starvation and disease could soon surpass the already staggering toll from bombardment and combat, which has reached nearly 25,000 people, according to health authorities in Gaza. (Photo: Maan News Agency)

Greater Middle East
Bab al-Mandab

Houthis vow to continue attacks on Red Sea shipping

The leadership of Yemen’s Houthi armed movement issued a statement saying they would not halt their military operations in the Red Sea unless Israel stops its “genocide crimes” in Gaza and allows humanitarian aid to enter the Strip. The move comes despite the US announcement of a new naval coalition to counter the attacks. The Houthis, backed by Iran, have launched over a dozen attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea since Israel’s bombardment of Gaza began in October. A range of drones and ballistic missiles have been deployed against vessels in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, or Gate of Tears, which separates the Horn of Africa from the Arabian Peninsula—a chokepoint for global trade. Shipping firms have already started to pull their vessels from the Red Sea route, opting for the much longer passage around Africa. The closing of the Red Sea to shipping has obvious implications for the price of oil and the ongoing worldwide food and energy crisis. (Image: NASA via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa
flood

Why politicians shouldn’t play weathermen

Last month, Kenya’s President William Ruto announced that El Niño climate phenomenon, which has historically brought devastating flooding to the country, would not occur this year, contradicting weeks of warnings from meteorologists. Today, across the country, at least 60 people have died, over 50,000 more have been displaced, entire towns have been submerged, and hundreds of acres of farmland are under water as heavy rains associated with El Niño lash the region. And it could be even worse in neighboring Somalia, where nearly 1.2 million people have been affected, prompting the country to declare an emergency. The World Meteorological Organization predicts that this El Niño will last until at least April 2024, with impacts on food security worldwide. (Photo via Twitter)

Planet Watch
forest fire

US report urges action amid extreme weather events

A comprehensive US government report has confirmed that extreme weather linked to climate change is worsening despite drops in US greenhouse gas emissions. The report urges further action to mitigate potentially catastrophic consequences. The Fifth National Climate Assessment follows a rash of extreme weather events across the US this year, from deadly wildfires in Maui to intense flooding in the Northeast. The assessment was mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990, requiring the US Global Change Research Program to deliver a report every four years. The report describes the increase in extreme weather as “unprecedented over thousands of years” and warns of “large scale changes” in temperature, sea levels, ocean acidification and rainfall patterns, “with a cascade of effects in every part of the country.” (Photo: US Forest Service via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa
Niger

Sanctions, hunger as Niger junta digs in

Three months after overthrowing the country’s elected government, Niger’s ruling military junta is continuing to crack down on critical media and peaceful dissent. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement that dozens of officials from the ousted administration have been arrested, and called on authorities to end arbitrary detentions. To try and force the regime to relinquish power, landlocked Niger’s southern neighbor Nigeria has shut its border and imposed stringent sanctions through regional bloc ECOWAS—including cutting off electricity supplies and blocking food shipments. The EU is preparing its own package of sanctions. Nigeriens are struggling with inflation and shortages of staple items; aid operations are also suspended. The junta has announced a three-year transition to civilian rule—far longer than regional leaders expected. (Map: PCL)

Planet Watch
displaced

El Niño’s global food fallout

El Niño will drive global food aid needs even higher in the coming months, a new analysiswarns. The prediction comes as food aid agencies are already making ration cuts amid a budget squeeze. In July, meteorologists declared the onset of El Niño, a periodic climate phenomenon that usually brings drought to large stretches of the globe and wetter weather elsewhere. The analysis by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network says that humanitarian groups must prepare for “high food assistance needs.” Another climate phenomenon, the Indian Ocean Dipole, could amplify El Niño’s effects—with both compounded by the climate crisis. This September was the hottest ever recorded. “The temperature anomalies are enormous—far bigger than anything we have ever seen in the past,” Petteri Taalas, head of the UN’s meteorological agency, WMO, said in a press release. (Photo of displaced families in Somalia: UN Photo/Tobin Jones via Flickr)

Africa
Kenyan soilders

Kenya-led intervention force approved for Haiti

The UN Security Council voted to approve a multi-national armed force led by Kenya to combat violent gangs in Haiti—marking the first time in nearly 20 years that foreign forces are to be deployed to the Caribbean nation. Kenya’s foreign minister said that his country wants to go beyond tackling the gangs, helping to strengthen infrastructure and restore democracy in Haiti, where elections have been repeatedly postponed due to the violence. But many have voiced skepticism about deployment of the force, asking how it will work if Kenyan troops don’t speak French or Kreyol, and questioning the wisdom of sending personnel from a military criticized at home for human rights abuses. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)