ROME — The United Nations World Food Programme warned on Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic will double the number of people with acute hunger.

The number of people facing acute food insecurity stands to rise to 265 million in 2020, up by 130 million from the 135 million in 2019, as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19, the WFP said in a report.

The report said that the people likely to suffer most are in low and middle-income countries.

“In this context, it is vital that food assistance program be maintained, including WFP’s own programs which offer a lifeline to almost 100 million vulnerable people globally,” the statement added.

“COVID-19 is potentially catastrophic for millions who are already hanging by a thread,” said Arif Husain, chief economist and director of research, assessment and monitoring at the WFP.

“We all need to come together to deal with this because if we don’t the cost will be too high — the global cost will be too high: many lost lives and many, many more lost livelihoods,” he said.

Husain said it was critical to act quickly in order to prevent people already living hand-to-mouth, such as food vendors in Kenya, from selling their assets as it could take them years to become self-reliant again.

The highlights of the WFP report prepared in cooperation with its partners are the following:

• Some 265 million people in low and middle-income countries will be in acute food insecurity by the end of 2020 unless swift action is taken.
• The majority of people suffering acute food insecurity in 2019 were in countries affected by conflict (77 million), climate change (34 million) and economic crises (24 million people).
• Ten countries constituted the worst food crises in 2019: Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria, Sudan, Nigeria and Haiti.
• South Sudan had 61 percent of its population in a state of food crisis (or worse) in 2019. Six other countries also had at least 35 percent of their populations in a state of food crisis: Sudan, Yemen, Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Syria and Haiti.
• These 10 countries accounted for 66 percent of the total population in crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or 88 million people. — Agencies