CAR: Continued Conflict in Central African Republic Is Creating Severe Food Insecurity

Jun 29, 2019 | David N. Rose, Organization for World Peace
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In the Central African Republic (CAR), a country in the heart of the African continent, rebel militias continue to run amok in an estimated 80% of the country. Arbitrary violence, torture, weaponized rape, and displacement have been daily occurrences for the citizens of the CAR, with as many as half a million Central Africans fleeing to neighbouring countries and 700,000 displaced internally. Now the ongoing conflict is creating a severe food shortage in the landlocked nation, according to reports from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and the World Food Programme (WFP). In a report on the current and projected food situation in the CAR, the IPC estimates that 1.8 million people are in dire need of food. The report highlighted that the country is currently in the “lean” season, which lasts from from May until August, when food stocks are low before the new harvest, a reality which has been made significantly worse by the cumulative years of unrest and anarchy.