Published 07:48 IST, October 12th 2020
Australian food banks witness massive surge in demand amid COVID-19 pandemic: Report
Demand for food relief in Australia has risen considerably during the COVID-19, a survey conducted on Australian charities has revealed.
Demand for food relief in Australia has risen considerably during the COVID-19, a survey conducted on Australian charities has revealed. As per The Guardian report, the results of the survey were published in the Foodbank Hunger Report 2020 which stated that the demand for food assistance rose by over 47 percent. It also revealed that international students and charity workers have emerged as a new group of food seekers during the pandemic.
For the purpose of the research, Foodbank surveyed around 500 charities between April and September in addition to 1000 people who had experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months, as reported. It was found that nearly 39 percent of the charities or food bank services had seen an increase in demand among international students, who were barred from accessing jobseeker payments given by the Australian government.
Meanwhile, another 69 percent of the charities revealed that the number of newly unemployed people seeking food has also risen considerably. In addition, it found that the frequency of people seeking food assistance has also spiked.
“In 2019, 15% of Australians experiencing food insecurity were seeking food relief at least once a week. In 2020, this has more than doubled to 31%. Although charities are seeing demand for food relief become more erratic and unpredictable, overall numbers are up by an average of 47%,” the report revealed.
Food crisis in Uganda
Meanwhile, in Uganda, nearly 500,000 refugees do not have sufficient food to eat, a crisis that has emerged from the disastrous combination of COVID-19 and severe cuts to food aids. As per the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), over 91,000 people living in 13 refugee settlements in Uganda were experiencing severe food shortages. In addition, there were more than 400,000 refugees at the crisis hunger levels.
The shortages even affect children as more than 135,130 have been found to be acutely malnourished and in need of immediate treatment. As per the IPC, the situation could worsen if additional cuts are made in food supplies to the hard-hit refugee camps.
Image credits: Foodbank Australia/ Twitter
Updated 07:48 IST, October 12th 2020