WFP chief says conflicts in troublespots causing unprecedented hunger

The head of the United Nations World Food Program says the world is facing an unprecedented challenge in its battle against global poverty — too much war in too many corners of the planet.

Executive Director Ertharin Cousin tells The Canadian Press that her organization is facing the most number of complex food emergency situations in decades.

She cites three global conflicts: the internal unrest in Central African Republic and South Sudan as well as the grinding civil war in Syria.

She says the WFP has had to scale back programs in places such as Bangladesh, Kenya, Somalia, and even Haiti, following its devastating earthquake in 2010.

She says the WFP is able to feed only a fraction of the world’s hungriest.

Cousin was attending the Harper government’s international summit on maternal and child health that wrapped Friday in Toronto.