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LEBANON-BLAST-FOOD-UN
Half of Lebanese could face food shortages: UN
BEIRUT, Aug 30, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – More than half of Lebanon’s population
risk facing a food crisis in the aftermath of a Beirut port blast that
compounded the country’s many woes, a UN agency said Sunday.
“More than half of the country’s population is at risk of failing to
access their basic food needs by the year’s end,” the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) said.
“Immediate measures should be taken to prevent a food crisis,” ESCWA
executive secretary Rola Dashti said.
Lebanon’s government, she said, must prioritise the rebuilding of silos at
the Beirut port, the country’s largest grain storage.
Lebanon was mired in an economic collapse even before the cataclysmic
August 4 cataclysmic blast at Beirut’s port, which killed 188 people, wounded
thousands and destroyed swathes of the capital.
Lebanon defaulted on its debt, while the local currency has plummeted in
value on the black market and poverty rates have soared, on top of a spike in
the number of coronavirus cases.
“The yearly average inflation rate is expected to be more than 50 percent
in 2020, compared with 2.9 percent in 2019,” ESCWA said in a statement.
Lebanon relies on imports for 85 percent of its food needs and the
annihilation of the silos at the Beirut port could worsen an already alarming
situation, aid agencies and experts have said.
ESCWA said increased transaction costs of food imports could lead to a
further rise in prices.
To prevent a crisis, authorities must set a ceiling for food prices and
encourage direct sales from local producers to consumers, Dashti added
She also urged the international community to “expand food security
programmes targeting refugees and host communities” to help defuse “potential
social tensions”.
Earlier this month, ESCWA said more than 55 percent of the Lebanese are
“trapped in poverty and struggling for bare necessities”.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1638 hrs