Hunger in Haiti reaches famine levels as gangs squeeze life out of the capital and beyond

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Nearly 6,000 people in Haiti are starving, with nearly half the country’s population of more than 11 million people experiencing crisis levels of hunger or worse as gang violence smothers life in the capital of Port-au-Prince and beyond, according to a new report released Monday. The number of Haitians facing crisis, emergency and famine levels of hunger increased by 1.2 million in the past year for a total of 5.4 million as gang violence disrupts the transportation of goods and prevents people from venturing out of their homes to buy food, according to the report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. “This is one of the highest proportions of acutely food insecure people in any crisis around the world,” said U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph) The 5,636 people who are facing starvation, the worst level, live in makeshift shelters across the metropolitan area, according to the report, which noted that another 2 million Haitians face severe hunger. “This is shocking,” said Martine Villeneuve, Haiti director for the nonprofit Action Against Hunger. While much of the hunger is directly tied to gang violence, double-digit inflation also has limited what many Haitians can afford to buy, with food now representing 70% of total household expenditures. A youth plays with a ring at the end of a wire inside a school where people displaced by gang violence have taken refuge for over a year in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph) Gang violence, however, accounts for most of the hunger, with gangs controlling 80% of Port-au-Prince and the roads that lead to and from northern and southern Haiti, preventing farmers from delivering goods and nonprofits from delivering aid. “Haiti continues to face a worsening humanitarian crisis, with alarming rates of armed gang violence disrupting daily life, forcing more people to flee their homes and levels of acute food insecurity to rise,” the report stated. In 2014, only 2% of Haiti’s population was food insecure, a number that has soared to nearly 50%, according to Mercy Corps, one of several nonprofits that called for an increase in funding on Monday. A youth cycles past a man taking a bucket bath at a school where people displaced by gang violence have been living for over a year in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. “Food doesn’t come around very often,” she said, adding that she depends on others to feed her children. “When an organization does provide food, there’s a major fight,” she said. St-Louis said she has to take her 1-year-old to a clinic so he can receive a peanut butter mix “so that his body doesn’t collapse in my arms.” “I’m sometimes so depressed that I sometimes want to kill the kids and myself,” she said in a soft voice as she cradled the 1-year-old in her arms while the 5-year-old played with his friends. He looks at other people eating all the time, and he starts crying, ‘Mommy, I’m hungry.’” Pedestrians cross a puddle of water in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph) Meanwhile, those facing urgent levels of hunger live in Haiti’s northern, central and southern regions, as well as in the capital. “I can’t provide every day for these children,” Yonel said. “Sometimes we take just a spoonful of food and leave the rest of the food for the kids so they don’t die.” Yonel used to work as a mason, but with construction jobs drying up, he is now forced to search for wood to make charcoal. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://apnews.com/af625f8d80698788624dfbcc30c656a4