MANAGER
Famine, climate change and armed conflict can hit the African continent like never before. It’s a ticking bomb that’s going to go off the air soon.
HUNGRY: Lean children get water from a jug. Millions of people in Africa are fighting a daily battle for existence. Photo: Nils-Inge Kruhaug / SCANPIX / NTB
sea view
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Manager: This is an editorial from Dagbladet, and expresses the newspaper’s views. Dagbladet’s political editor is responsible for the editorial.
Published
Friday, May 27, 2022 – 10:11 p.m.
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An accident rarely comes alone. The African continent is hit hard by major and dangerous crises at the same time:
- In East Africa, more than 20 million people are at risk of starvation to death.
- Africa is the continent that is most vulnerable to climate change.
- Africa is the area in the world with the most conflicts.
Not least, Africa’s population will double over the next 30 years. It will not make conflicts over resources such as food and water any easier to resolve. On the contrary.
It is thus a life-threatening combination of various events we are witnessing in parts of Africa. A toxic mix of climate change, conflict and famine could explode in the heart of the continent. Yes, this is also where Frp wants to be send people seeking asylum in Norway.
In the midst of it all, the government has cut aid to finance the reception of Ukrainian refugees here at home. The timing could not have been worse.
For the first time in years, the number of people living in extreme poverty will increase. This year, almost 100 million more people will live in extreme poverty compared to what was estimated before the pandemic broke out. For the first time in many years, we will have more poor people.
The famine will only increase in scope. The war in Ukraine has made it more difficult to obtain food grains and cooking oil. Then prices go up, and for every percent food prices increase, it gives 10 million more poor people.
The pandemic still has major consequences in poor countries. While the richest countries have quickly recovered from the pandemic, it will be a long time before the poorest countries do the same.
Last but not least: poor countries have contributed the least to climate change and are at the same time least equipped to resist them. More extreme weather will result in less food and more and more people fleeing.
Now there is a crisis. Although there is a lot that has moved in the right direction, things are now about to turn. A few years ago we could look back on a time when more and more people lived in democracies, the proportion of poor people decreased every year and conflicts became increasingly rare. Now things are going in the wrong direction again. For Africa, it could be a complete crisis.
Will send refugees to Africa
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