The number of people facing severe food shortages in the world could double by the economic impact of COVID-19, Reuters reported referring to the UN’ World Food Programme (WFP).

“COVID-19 is potentially catastrophic for millions who are already hanging by a thread,” said Arif Husain, chief economist and director of research, assessment, and monitoring at the World Food Programme (WFP). “We all need to come together to deal with this because if we don’t the cost will be too high - the global cost will be too high: many lost lives and many, many more lost livelihoods,” he told reporters at a virtual briefing in Geneva.

According to the WFP expert, it is critical to act as soon as possible, as many are barely making ends meet.

Farmers sell their assets as it could take them years to become self-reliant again. The UN did not give specific geographical coordinates of the neediest points in the world, but Africa is most likely affected. WFP will need $ 10-12 billion to implement assistance programs this year, while last year this amount was 8.3 billion dollars. WFP plans to pre-position food to meet growing needs.