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Photo: EPA / UPG
Residents will face food shortages later this year: UN
The UN believes that half of the Lebanese are threatened with starvation due to an explosion in early August in the port of Beirut. Experts urge the authorities to urgently restore grain storage facilities at the port.
More than half of the Lebanese population is at risk of facing a food crisis in late 2020 after the explosion in the Beirut port, which exacerbated the country’s socio-economic problems, writes Al Arabiya, citing a report from the Economic and Nations Organization for Western Asia (ESCWA).
After a powerful explosion that destroyed an important part of the port of Beirut, the main logistical point of entry for goods into the country. <...> and a sharp increase in poverty and unemployment, more than half of the country’s population is at risk of not meeting their basic food needs by the end of this year, “says the report.
It is noted that the collapse of the Lebanese pound will also lead to a deterioration of the food situation. Experts predict its fall by almost 80%. The economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic will also contribute to this.
“Immediate action is needed to prevent a food crisis,” said ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti.
He added that the port of Beirut is the main point through which Lebanon imports food. Therefore, the commission urges to urgently restore grain storage facilities at the port.
Recall that in Beirut, due to a powerful explosion on August 4, most of the capital was destroyed. The tragedy was caused by the improper storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. The explosion killed 190 people, more than 300 thousand people lost their homes.
We also wrote that almost 80 containers of chemicals were found in the port of Beirut.
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