The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that supply chain disruptions caused by the escalating military situation in the Middle East threaten the food security of millions of people who depend on humanitarian aid for survival.
The World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, Samer Abdel Jaber, told UN News yesterday that geopolitical tensions and the impact of vital shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea have caused increasing disruptions in global supply chains, exacerbating pressures on food security in countries already suffering from economic fragility and protracted conflicts.
Abdul-Jaber noted that the World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to activate emergency preparedness measures in a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to ensure that aid continues to reach the most vulnerable.
He explained that the food situation in the region was difficult even before this current crisis, pointing out that recent developments have led to a significant exacerbation of it, pointing out that Lebanon, for example, has witnessed waves of internal displacement in societies that have been suffering from high levels of food insecurity for years, while Iran was already suffering from an economic recession and high inflation rates, especially in food prices, in addition to the rapid depreciation of the currency.
The UN official stressed that the programme is working to ensure that it is able to meet the needs of the people it seeks to reach in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Afghanistan and other countries, in light of these difficult conditions that threaten the food security of millions of people in the region.
The Middle East is witnessing a military escalation that is directly reflected on global trade, as the disruption of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz has begun to reflect directly on global food supply chains, especially those that rely on refrigerated logistics.
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