May 7
Radio Habana Cuba published an article on life after COVID-19 and the impact the health crisis has on food security. Food insecurity in the world’s poorest countries reached record highs in 2020, with millions staring at famine, a situation exacerbated in part by the COVID pandemic, according to a UN report. From Haiti to Syria, some 155 million people across 55 countries who rely the most on humanitarian assistance were classified as being in “crisis” – meaning in urgent need of food – a 20 million increase since 2019. “[The pandemic] is a compounding factor that has seriously worsened the crisis in Syria and other countries,” Rob Vos, director of Markets, Trade and Institutions at the International Food Policy Research Institute, told Al Jazeera. Extreme weather events were a third driving factor for the increase in food insecurity.