Around 40 Countries Seek Permanent Food Aid: FAO

Moscow: Around 40 countries currently require continuous external food assistance, Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO) Liaison Office with Russia, told RIA Novosti in an interview. Famine is expected to worsen in 13 countries, with FAO urging major donors, including Russia, to make voluntary contributions to FAO and its partners' emergency assistance programmes. The list of countries with a possible deteriorating situation includes Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Syria, Somalia, and Chad. According to Nam News Network, the situation has noticeably improved in Southeast Asia and South Asia, primarily due to dynamic socio-economic growth in India, as well as in South America. Unfortunately, this positive trend stands in stark contrast to the steady increase in famine across most sub-regions of Africa and West Asia, Kobiakov noted.