Post by Logan on Feb 10, 2016 3:15:41 GMT -6
An increasing number of Haitians are at risk of being driven deeper into poverty and hunger as Haiti faces its worst food crisis in 15 years, the United Nations World Food Program said Tuesday.
The U.N. agency, which is launching an $84 million appeal to help stave off extreme malnutrition and deaths in an already fragile Haiti, is blaming the emerging crisis on the El Niño weather phenomenon. Already blamed for some of the worst drought conditions around the globe, the weather event has left some Haitian farmers facing up to 70 percent crop losses and has doubled the number of food insecure people in the country since September.
“We are seeing the malnutrition rates dramatically increased,” said Wendy Bigham, WFP deputy country director. “This is really a severe food crisis.”
The crisis couldn’t come at a worse time for Haiti, which is facing a power vacuum after its president left office Sunday without an elected successor. A 120-day provisional government has yet to be installed, and some in the opposition are accusing the country’s only sworn-in elected officials, the parliament, of staging “a coup d’etat” after the leaders of both chambers signed a last-minute deal with outgoing President Michel Martelly. The accord outlines the steps for putting in an interim president and consensus prime minister in the coming days.
Read more here: www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article59399683.html
The U.N. agency, which is launching an $84 million appeal to help stave off extreme malnutrition and deaths in an already fragile Haiti, is blaming the emerging crisis on the El Niño weather phenomenon. Already blamed for some of the worst drought conditions around the globe, the weather event has left some Haitian farmers facing up to 70 percent crop losses and has doubled the number of food insecure people in the country since September.
“We are seeing the malnutrition rates dramatically increased,” said Wendy Bigham, WFP deputy country director. “This is really a severe food crisis.”
The crisis couldn’t come at a worse time for Haiti, which is facing a power vacuum after its president left office Sunday without an elected successor. A 120-day provisional government has yet to be installed, and some in the opposition are accusing the country’s only sworn-in elected officials, the parliament, of staging “a coup d’etat” after the leaders of both chambers signed a last-minute deal with outgoing President Michel Martelly. The accord outlines the steps for putting in an interim president and consensus prime minister in the coming days.
Read more here: www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article59399683.html