Head of the World Food Programme(WFP) David Beasley has asserted that the Corona virus pandemic is not only affecting world’s rich economies, but also impacting the economies of vulnerable and conflict-torn countries where millions of people will face starvation, if there is a cut in the United Nations agency’s funding for food. He said that maintaining supply chains is critical and there are many potential obstacles – export restrictions, closed borders and ports, farms not producing and roads closed.

Earlier, Mr Beasley warned the UN Security Council that as the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is on the brink of a hunger pandemic that could lead to multiple famines of biblical proportions within a few months if immediate action is not taken. He said, 821 million people go to bed hungry every night all over the world now.

A further 135 million people are facing crisis levels of hunger or worse and a new World Food Programme analysis shows that as a result of COVID-19 an additional 130 million people could be pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of 2020.