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Nearly 55 million people face hunger in West and Central Africa

Dakar. Senegal Reuters Soaring prices have helped fuel a food crisis in West and Central Africa, where nearly 55 million people will struggle to feed themselves in the coming months, UN humanitarian agencies warned on Friday. The number facing hunger during the June-August lean season has quadrupled over the last five years, they said, noting […]

WHO cancer arm deems aspartame “possible carcinogen”; consumption limits unchanged

Sodas on shelves at a Vons grocery store in Pasadena, California, US, on 10th June, 2020.

London, UKReuters The sweetener aspartame is a “possible carcinogen” but it remains safe to consume at already agreed levels, two groups linked to the World Health Organization declared on Friday.  The rulings are the outcome of two separate WHO expert panels, one of which flags whether there is any evidence that a substance is a […]

World food prices hit record high in 2022

Russia Rostov harvesters

Paris, FranceReuters A surge in the cost of most food commodities last year, as the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raised concerns of shortages, sent the UN food agency’s average price index to the highest level on record. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which tracks international prices of the most […]

Two thirds of South Sudan population risk severe hunger in 2023 – UN

South Sudan Leer town

Juba, South SudanReuters Up to 7.8 million people in South Sudan, two thirds of the population, may face severe food shortages during next year’s April-to-July lean season due to floods, drought and conflict, United Nations agencies said on Thursday. An aerial view from a from a United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) Mi-8MTV-1 helicopter shows […]

Explainer – Why are West and Central Africa’s floods so devastating this year?

Nigeria Obagi floods

Dakar, Senegal Reuters Unusually intense seasonal rains have drenched swathes of West and Central Africa since June, unleashing deadly floods that have affected millions and submerged farmland in 19 countries. Below are factors that are making the floods worse and data on the scale of their impact. An aerial view of the flooded Obagi community […]

Famine risk rises in Somalia as rains fail, food prices soar – UN

Somalia Kaxareey camp graves

London, UKReuters Nearly a quarter of a million people are facing starvation in Somalia as a drought worsens and global food prices hover near record highs, United Nations agencies said on Monday. The agencies said a fourth consecutive rainy season had failed in the Horn of Africa country and meteorologists were warning of another below-average […]