Haiti Reels Under Worst Food Insecurity Crisis Since 2001
A recent study conducted by the United Nations World Food Program has determined that Haiti is currently experiencing its worst food crisis in 15 years, pushing a significant portion of the nation even further into alarming levels of poverty, according to The Voice of America.
The World Food Program has determined that the aggregated effects of the El Niño Phenomenon have aggravated the food crisis in the beleaguered nation, with about 3.6 million Haitians experiencing varying levels of food insecurity. Most alarming, however, were the findings which stated that among that number, 1.5 million were experiencing severe levels of food insecurity.
Due to the effects of El Niño, the country's harvest has suffered considerably, with the 2015 harvest falling far below average. In fact, some areas in the country registered harvest losses of up to 70 percent. As of writing, the number of food-insecure people in the country has doubled since September.
The numbers announced by the WFP does not show that the country is currently experiencing famine. However, the current food insecurity rates have gotten so high that its current levels are actually higher than those registered following the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy, reported the Latin Dispatch.
Of course, with food insecurity at an all-time high, the malnutrition levels of the country has also risen considerably. Wendy Bigham, deputy country director of the WFP, stated that the country's current plight has reached very serious levels.
"We are seeing the malnutrition rates dramatically increased. This is really a severe food crisis," she said.
A weakening agriculture sector and rising malnutrition levels are not all that are weighing down the country, however, as Haiti's economy is also experiencing a notable plunge. The country's currency, the gourde, has continued to depreciate against the dollar, with the current exchange rate being 61.25 gourdes to a dollar, as opposed to its levels prior to the 2010 earthquake, where a dollar corresponded to only 43 gourdes, according to The Charlotte Observer.
The depreciation of the currency has aggravated the poverty levels of the country, which is home to many who get by on incomes as low as $2.00 a day. After all, the lower the currency gets, the higher the prices of commodities become.
Abnel Desarmours, the interim coordinator of Haiti's National Food Security Coordination Unit, believes that the country's economic problems will probably not be over in the near future.
"We are in a situation that is extremely difficult and if it's not addressed, it risks degenerating further in the coming months," he said.
Currently with no president, Haiti's incoming interim government would most probably have a huge task in hand immediately after taking power.
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