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Conflict major setback for hunger in Middle East, North Africa: UN food agency

Xinhua, June 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The number of chronically undernourished people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has doubled to 33 million people over the past 25 years, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Wednesday.

Food insecurity in the region is concentrated in Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where conflict and crises have disrupted access to food for millions, the FAO said.

"The (MENA) region, as a whole has witnessed a serious setback in its fight against hunger," FAO Assistant Director-General Abdessalam Ould Ahmed said in a statement. "Conflicts and protracted crises are the main drivers of food insecurity in the region."

It is estimated that more than 13 million people are in critical need of food assistance due to the Syrian crisis. While one quarter of Yemenis, and almost one quarter, 23 percent, of Iraqis are considered undernourished.

Although 15 of the 19 countries in the region have met the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of cutting hunger by half the number of people in poverty -- or keeping it below 5 percent -- between 1990 and 2015, food insecurity in conflict affected areas meant that overall the region has gone backwards. The MDGs are a set of eight anti-poverty targets to be reached by the end of this year.

"The overall picture should not overshadow progresses made by the large majority of countries," he said. "We should commend the 15 countries in the (MENA) region that have achieved the Millennium Development Goals hunger target."

The 2015 State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI) report released last week found that the MENA was the only region where the number of people experiencing malnourishment had increased compared with 1990 figures.

Globally, the Preavlence of Undernourishment for developing countries has declined from 23.4 percent in 1990 to 12.9 percent.

The report found that this reduction was notably influenced by progress made in large populous countries, including China and India. Endite