Ripple effects of crisis hitting hard in Africa

The impact of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, such as skyrocketing prices of fuel and food, has not only hit economies across the globe but also is endangering the lives of Africa's crisis-hit communities, as humanitarian organizations face funding shortages.

This came as the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization warned that the conflict has affected access to food on a global level and could deal a blow to the crop harvest in 2023.

The main reason behind the price increase, the agency's chief economist Maximo Torero said, is that Russia and Ukraine are key exporters of cereals, including maize and wheat. The FAO said the two countries produced around 30 percent of the global wheat supply last year.

As a result of the surge in prices, he said, "consumers and especially vulnerable countries are facing significant challenges to be able to procure the amount of food that they need today".

On Tuesday, the World Food Programme warned its UN Humanitarian Air Service will be forced to ground its cargo planes in Guinea and Niger by August if additional funding of $6.4 million is not urgently provided.

This means that some crisis-hit communities in the two countries will be cut off from lifesaving aid.

The UN agency said the crisis has led to increased fuel prices, resulting in higher-than-expected costs required for the maintenance and running of the air transport services.

It said aircraft fuel costs increased by 26 percent in Guinea and 33 percent in Niger in April compared to January.

"The common humanitarian services provided by UN Humanitarian Air Service have become indispensable for humanitarian and health responders tackling recurrent outbreaks of deadly diseases such as Ebola, Lassa, and Marburg epidemics in the remote forest region of Guinea," said Lim Hyoungjoon, country director and representative of the WFP in Guinea.

Lim said poor and impassable roads remain a challenge to movement within the country.

"Support to UN Humanitarian Air Service is absolutely essential so that humanitarian assistance can be delivered to vulnerable communities in hard-to-reach areas of the country," he said.

Only reliable, safe way

The WFP said 4.4 million people in Niger are expected to face acute food insecurity during the June-August 2022 lean season, so the humanitarian air service remains the only reliable and safe way for humanitarian personnel and cargo to reach people in need across the country.

This includes remote and hard-to-reach areas, as access via land is hampered by vast distances, poor road infrastructure, flooding and insecurity.

In addition to plans to ground humanitarian air services to the two countries, the WFP also announced that it has suspended food assistance in South Sudan due to funding shortages, heightening the risk of starvation for 1.7 million people.

The suspension will see almost one-third of the acutely food insecure South Sudanese－that the UN agency had planned to support this year－left without humanitarian food assistance.

It will also impact 178,000 schoolchildren who will no longer receive daily school meals, a crucial safety net that helps keep them in education.

Xinhua contributed to this story.