Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.

I'm honoured to appear before you this afternoon to speak about Africa and the role the World Food Programme plays in addressing extensive food insecurity, which continues to impact the continent.

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian organization. We work across many of the world's most fragile settings to save lives during emergencies and to contribute to building sustainable solutions to food insecurity that can help change the lives of the people we serve over the long term.

Unfortunately, hunger is on the rise in Africa, where already more than half of the world's food-insecure people live. This increase in hunger is largely driven by three things: conflict, weather extremes and economic shocks.

We have a large footprint in Africa, which means we witness first-hand the challenges that African countries face, especially when it comes to hunger and malnutrition. Africa is home to more food crises than anywhere else in the world. Three out of WFP's four corporate-level emergencies in 2023 were in Africa: in Sudan and Sudan's neighbours Chad, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In Sudan, the ongoing conflict has decimated the country's ability to feed itself. More than one-third of the country—18 million people—is now acutely food insecure. We know that this will worsen this month as Sudan's lean season begins, and WFP continues to face substantial challenges in gaining cross-border access needed to reach those most affected by the conflict.

This conflict has also impacted neighbouring Chad, which now hosts more than one million Sudanese refugees, making it home to one of the largest and fastest-growing refugee populations in Africa and the world. We assist on average half a million people per month with emergency food rations in Chad alone, in some of the harshest and most remote regions. We are racing against time to pre-position food in the hardest-to-reach areas before the rainy season cuts off our road access in June. This is why we need predictable funding to purchase supplies early and get food staples to rural and remote locations that do not have local food supply routes.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the third major crisis we are responding to right now on the continent. About one-quarter of the population, or 23.5 million people, is facing emergency levels of hunger. Due to escalating conflict in the eastern part of the country, six million people have had to leave their homes and livelihoods.

The situation is particularly catastrophic for women and girls, especially those living in camps for displaced people. They face a constant threat of sexual violence during their daily activities. When we place food assistance decisions in the hands of women and facilitate a safe environment for income opportunities, they are less likely to be exposed to such risks.

As well as conflict, we can also see increasing damage caused by climate shocks throughout the African continent, which are disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable countries. The southern region is currently experiencing the most severe El Niño impact since the 1980s, resulting in drought and crop failures. The governments of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi have all officially declared national states of emergency.

We are working with these governments to provide cash transfers to the most vulnerable, facilitate international food procurement and provide logistic support. Also, in anticipation of El Niño, we launched early warning and anticipatory action programs to ensure that people receive cash and other support before the climate shock hits. WFP reached over 230,000 people in southern Africa with $14 million U.S. in anticipatory cash and support, which helps individuals to prepare and thus increases their resilience in time of crisis.

Additionally, many countries continue to face chronic seasonal food security challenges. In west Africa and the Sahel, the May-to-August lean season has begun.

Due to persistently high food prices and market instability, we predict that there will be about 55 million people who will struggle to feed themselves.

Mr. Chair, during my own 25 years with WFP, I have seen first-hand how food crises have become more complex, more severe and more protracted. Despite the rising needs across Africa and the world, shrinking resources and funding cuts have forced WFP to drastically reduce assistance in almost every country in which we work. In Somalia, for example, we had to reduce the number of people we serve by half. However, we will continue to work on the front lines of hunger and to prioritize the most vulnerable people by addressing their nutritional needs.

In a world of rising needs and limited funds, it's critical that we simultaneously work to change lives while also saving lives, working across the humanitarian, development, peace nexus to reduce—