All posts tagged: famine

How the Middle East conflict is worsening Somalia’s slide into famine

How the Middle East conflict is worsening Somalia’s slide into famine

Published by Sam Flores

Mustafe Denbil runs an agricultural shop and farm in northern Somalia, but three months after he ordered fertilizer and pesticides, the supplies his business needs are still stranded in Dubai. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Denbil, chairman of Horn Gardens in the city of Hargeisa, says the delays, driven by disruptions linked to the war in the Middle East, are hitting farmers and families across the country, as soaring food and fuel prices deepen an already severe hunger crisis and push Somalia closer to famine. “Now, when families come to our store, they may not get all what they need as they used to five months ago,” he told NBC News by phone. “The small farmers cannot even afford to buy at this new price.” The East African nation was already facing one of its worst food security crises in years. Six million people, about 31% of the population, are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, including 1.9 million people facing emergency conditions, the …

Faith communities must lead on the hunger crisis — but they can’t substitute for US policy

Faith communities must lead on the hunger crisis — but they can’t substitute for US policy

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — This past week, a single mother in America’s Southwest tried to find out why her food assistance benefits — once a reliable safeguard for her family’s dining table — were gone. She is not alone. Recent federal legislation has enacted the deepest cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the program’s history — a reduction of nearly $187 billion over 10 years. The Farm Bill that just passed the House of Representatives locks in those cuts through 2031, without restoring a dollar of what was lost. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual household food security reports — 30 years of data measuring the state of hunger in America — have been discontinued.  Nationwide, 1 in 5 children — nearly 14 million kids — are not getting the food they need, a problem especially prevalent in families with single mothers. This was not inevitable. In 2021, child poverty dropped by nearly half over the year prior, to its lowest level ever recorded, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s because the government …

Gaza’s ceasefire had some momentum. Now, some fear a new war will distract the world

Gaza’s ceasefire had some momentum. Now, some fear a new war will distract the world

Published by Sam Flores

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Some Palestinians say they fear the widening war sparked by U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran could overshadow the fragile situation in Gaza, just over a week after U.S. President Donald Trump rallied billions of dollars in pledges for the territory’s reconstruction and tried to nudge a ceasefire forward. Residents say they are scared of neglect and deprivation, with Israel in the wake of the weekend strikes closing all crossings into their shattered territory of over 2 million people. COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, has closed crossings into the territory and frozen the entrance and exit of humanitarian workers because, it says, the crossings cannot not be safely operated under fire. It said crossings would reopen as soon as the security situation allows. It said that Palestinians there have enough food stockpiled, though some organizations warned they could soon run out of supplies. Palestinians told The Associated Press they were rushing to markets, haunted by memories of painful food scarcity last year under months …