Acute food insecurity is constantly increasing. Around 193 million people faced high levels of acute hunger in 53 countries and territories in 2021, representing an increase of nearly 40 million people compared to the previous high in 2020. At the same time, according to the latest report on Financing Flows and Food Crises produced by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), humanitarian assistance to food sectors in these countries increased by 20 percent reaching USD 9.8 billion, the highest allocation recorded in the past six years.

Evidence is clearly showing that levels of acute food insecurity are outpacing financial allocations, highlighting an unsustainable trend. Against this backdrop, the amount of support that currently goes to agricultural livelihoods within humanitarian funding remains extremely low compared to that going to food assistance, yet twothirds of those experiencing acute hunger are rural people who rely on agriculture as their main means of survival. Protecting agricultural livelihoods against shocks is critical to guarantee food security while reducing structural vulnerabilities and future humanitarian needs. Therefore, livelihoods assistance should be considered integral to humanitarian aid. The side-event will be an opportunity to discuss and promote a more efficient use of humanitarian funding, while also exploring alternative and/or innovative financing mechanisms to prevent and address food crises.

Organiser: FAO

Speakers:

• Mr Habib Ur Rehman Mayar, Deputy General Secretary - The g7+ Secretariat & Executive Director of g7+ Foundation
• Ms Racey Henderson, SEADS Coordinator
• Mr Mohamoud Duale, Executive director Rural Agency for Community Development and Assistance (RACIDA)
• Mr Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience – FAO
• Ms Charlotte Fontaine, Thematic Expert Food security – ECHO