Haiti faces 'some of worst' food security conditions in history: UN body

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Haiti is now facing "some of the worst" food security conditions in history, the World Food Program's (WFP) country director said on Friday.

Speaking at the UN bi-weekly briefing, Jean-Martin Bauer said the Caribbean country currently has five million people being acutely food insecure.

"Armed group violence now affected the daily lives of millions of people, and those groups controlled ever-increasing areas, including farmland," Bauer said. "A widespread inflation had led to the doubling of the basic food basket, and the impact on the population had been extreme."

This year, the WFP had been able to reach well over 800,000 people despite the precarious security situation, he said, adding: "The needs had risen, but the funding had not risen accordingly."

Noting that Haiti needed peace and security, he said hunger and violence were intertwined, as hunger only strengthened the hands of armed groups.

He added that the WFP needed $120 million over the next six months to be able to continue with its assistance activities.