Food insecurity: widespread lack of access: due to High food prices and economic downturn - a well above-average cereal production in 2021 has resulted in an improvement in food security; an estimated 1.8 million people are still assessed to be food insecure in the July-September period, about half the level in the previous year, largely on account of poor food access due to prevailing high prices and reduced incomes owing to the effects of the economic downturn; the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic aggravated conditions, particularly with regard to income levels due to market instability from COVID-19 lockdown measures
Definition: Food crises are nearly always due to a combination of factors, but it is important to establish whether the nature of food crises is predominantly related to lack of food availability, limited access to food, or severe but localized problems. Countries in crisis requiring external assistance for food are expected to lack the resources to deal with reported critical problems of food insecurity. Three levels of crises are described in this field in descending severity: countries facing an exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies as a result of crop failure, natural disasters, interruption of imports, disruption of distribution, excessive post-harvest losses, or other supply bottlenecks; countries with widespread lack of access, where a majority of the population is considered to be unable to procure food from local markets, due to very low incomes, exceptionally high food prices, or the inability to circulate within the country; countries with severe localized food insecurity due to the influx of refugees, a concentration of internally displaced persons, or areas with combinations of crop failure and deep poverty.
Source: CIA World Factbook - This page was last updated on Saturday, September 18, 2021
