Rome [Italy], March 18 : The world is facing a "terrible, terrible prospect" as the current conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran threatens to drive global hunger to an "all-time record."
According to the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP), the compounded impact of "extreme weather events, conflict, and pockets of famine" has already left a staggering 320 million people "acutely food insecure."
The humanitarian agency warned on Wednesday that this war, now entering its "third week," is sending "shockwaves on food and fuel costs" across the globe.
These economic disruptions could soon "price families out of staple foods far beyond the region" where the fighting is concentrated.
"The escalating humanitarian fallout from the conflict in the Middle East is growing more concerning by the day," cautioned WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau during a press conference in Geneva.
Skau noted that the agency's "analysis projects that if the Middle East conflict continues through June," and oil prices remain "above USD 100 a barrel, an additional 45 million people could be pushed into acute hunger by price rises."
He emphasised that the current crisis is "taking this to a whole other level," with the heaviest burden falling on "the world's most vulnerable people who are already living in dire conditions."
These populations, he added, "do not have the margins to cope with a new jump in living costs."
The conflict began on 28 February following a military operation by the United States and Israel against Iran.
The situation rapidly deteriorated as Tehran launched retaliatory strikes against targets in Israel and Gulf nations, eventually drawing Lebanon into the hostilities via Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The WFP is currently active on the ground in Lebanon, providing "hot meals and bread to tens of thousands of people."
To sustain these operations over the next three months, the agency is urgently seeking USD 77 million in additional funding.
Skau revealed that the agency was already navigating a "perfect storm" even before the current war erupted.
"Hunger has never been as severe as now," he declared, pointing out that acute food insecurity has seen a "three-fold increase in five years."
Despite the rising need, the WFP saw a "40-per cent cut in its resources last year" as international funding began to dry up.
"We are basically stretched to the limit," Skau said, adding that the Middle East conflict is making "operations much, much more expensive."
The agency is grappling with "soaring fuel prices and longer supply chain routes," with shipping costs rising by 18 per cent, and transport trucks running on significantly pricier fuel."
The crisis is also threatening agricultural stability far from the frontlines.
Skau warned that the "disruption to fertiliser exports through the Strait of Hormuz" poses a "major risk" to sub-Saharan African nations like Somalia and Kenya as they enter their planting season.
In Somalia, the situation has reached a breaking point.
"In Somalia, we have clear indications that we're heading into a famine: we have two consecutive droughts," Skau said.
He noted that the WFP is struggling to assist 700,000 people in the country because they "just don't have the funding."
The lack of resources has forced the agency to make devastating cuts elsewhere.
Life-saving food rations have been reduced for those in "famine conditions in Sudan," while in Afghanistan--the site of "the world's worst malnutrition crisis"--the WFP can only support one in four acutely malnourished children.
"People are dying in Afghanistan due to the lack of assistance," Skau said, as he issued a final plea for nations to "make more humanitarian resources available" to prevent a global catastrophe.