Committee on Food Security

A new Oxfam report today says that as many as 11 people are likely dying of hunger and malnutrition each minute. This is more than the current global death rate of COVID-19, which is around seven people per minute. The report, ‘says that conflict remains the primary cause of hunger since the pandemic, pushing over half a million people into famine-like conditions ―a six-fold increase since 2020.

The threat of “COVID famines” and widespread extreme hunger are setting off every alarm bell within the international community, but so far sluggish funding of the UN's appeal is hampering humanitarian agencies’ efforts to deliver urgent assistance to people in need.

Before the opening of the Committee on Food Security’s annual meeting in Rome (7 October), Oxfam called for Governments to ensure that biofuel policies do not force poor farmers off their land and fuel food price spikes.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has just published its food price index which shows a sharp rise in