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The human cost of the war in Yemen is rising sharply as the conflict enters its eighth year, with the number of civilian deaths increasing sharply, hunger on the rise and three quarters of the population in urgent need of humanitarian support, Oxfam warned today. 

One in four people in South Africa do not have enough to eat, and half the population is at risk of hunger, despite the country producing more than enough food.

Families still reeling from the aftermath of a two-year conflict in Tigray are now resorting to increasingly desperate measures to survive. The conflict and erratic rainfall throughout the north of the country has further exacerbated the planting season which threatens to plunge the region into deeper humanitarian catastrophe if nothing is done, warns Oxfam.

Somalia is suffering its worst drought in years and failed rains are already devastating half a million lives, international aid agency Oxfam warned today. An ongoing conflict in the country together with the drought has pushed hundreds of thousands of Somalis beyond their ability to cope.

More than 23 million people are being pushed towards severe hunger and destitution across East Africa, international aid agency Oxfam warned today, as it launched an emergency appeal to raise $15 million.

In reaction to today’s UN 2023 Global Humanitarian Outlook report, revealing that 339 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian aid - the highest caseload in history -  Oxfam’s Global Humanitarian Director Marta Valdes Garcia said: “One in every 23 people around the world –the equivalent of nearly half of the entire population of Europe– is now in urgent need of humanitarian aid. This news must be an immediate wake-up call. 

Oxfam calls for a radical shake-up in the way the world deals with food crises in Ethiopia and beyond. The agency rounded on what it called a “knee-jerk reaction” to food crises which is dominated by sending food aid.

November rains that were expected to ease the hunger crisis in East Africa have failed yet again in some of the worst hit areas. Millions of people face at least another six months of hunger and destitution.

Rising food costs, climate change and dramatic changes in land tenure are increasing the reality of hunger and leaving food-insecure people feeling they “are rated as the cheapest of the cheapest”.

The EU’s response to COVID-19 in the recovery package, and the Farm-to-Fork Strategy, are opportunities to help fix the broken global food system.