UN: 45 million threatened by famine, with Afghanistan hit hardest

Around 45 million people across the globe are currently threatened by famine, with the situation especially dire in Afghanistan, the United Nations said on Monday.
This is about 3 million more cases than had been anticipated at the beginning of the year, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said in Rome on Monday.
The coronavirus pandemic and its knock-on effects are responsible for the hunger of 15 million people, it said.
WFP chief David Beasley appealed to wealthy individuals to help with one-time donations.
He calculated that 7 billion dollars would be enough to provide all 45 million people with a daily meal for a year.
"While Covid is undeniably exacerbating fragility around the world, man-made conflict is driving instability and powering a destructive new wave of famine that threatens to sweep the world. The toll being paid in human misery is unimaginable," Beasley said in a statement.
The WFP said Afghanistan "is becoming the world's largest humanitarian crisis," with the country's needs surpassing those of other hard-hit places like Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.