Around 360,000 people in Timor-Leste, a country with a population of 1.3 million, face critical levels of food insecurity, according to a report assessing the food situation in the country, released by the World Food Programme (WFP).
It is estimated that 360,000 people, about one in four of the population, face critical levels of food insecurity, of which 18,500 people face emergency conditions, states the report, released on Thursday, which is based on an assessment of the situation between November 2023 and April 2024.
The document also predicts that between May and September, during the post-harvest season -traditionally seen as a period of improved access to food – the situation will worsen.
The predicted climate shocks will reduce crop yields, the report says, with 19,000 people in six municipalities expected to face a further decline in their food security and increase the total number of people in emergency food conditions to more than 22,000.
The WFP's second round of analysis of Timor-Leste's Integrated Phase Classification of Acute Food Insecurity reveals fragile and deteriorating levels of food insecurity in 12 of Timor-Leste's 14 municipalities, amid successive climate shocks and rising food prices, the report adds.
According to the WFP representative in Timor-Leste, Alba Cecilia Garzon Olivares, climate shocks and the inflation rate show that action is urgently needed to prevent a further deterioration of food insecurity in the country.
The document was drawn up jointly by the government, the United Nations and non-governmental organisations.