Africa faces ‘hunger pandemic’ as coronavirus destroys jobs and fuels poverty

ROME (HRNW) – S ince South Africa went into lockdown four weeks ago to slow the spread of the coronavirus, hairdresser Nasreen Pillay has had no income. Without a job contract, she cannot apply for government aid either.

She is also fearful the economic squeeze is leading to more crime. Robbers broke into her mother s house two weeks ago, taking speakers, headphones and other items. “People are desperate,” she said.

Such desperation could worsen as job losses mount and incomes plunge due to a coronavirus-induced recession, with countries in sub-Saharan Africa particularly at risk of spikes in poverty and hunger, experts have warned.

The world is “on the brink of a hunger pandemic”, David Beasley, head of the United Nations  World Food Programme, told the U.N. Security Council this week.