There is a "real risk" of multiple famines this year, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday and urged ministers meeting on food security to take practical steps to stabilize food markets and reduce commodity price volatility.
"We face an unprecedented global hunger crisis," Guterres told the meeting in Berlin via video.
More than 460,000 people in Somalia, Yemen and South Sudan are in famine conditions under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) - a scale used by U.N. agencies, regional bodies and aid groups to determine food insecurity. This is the step before a declaration of famine in a region.
Millions of people in 34 other countries are on the brink of famine, according to the IPC.
"There is a real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022. And 2023 could be even worse," said Guterres, calling mass hunger and starvation unacceptable in the 21st century.
