On Earth Day, Kumi Naidoo on Africa’s Twin Pandemics of Coronavirus & Hunger

Some 265 million people are expected to face acute hunger as the coronavirus crisis could trigger a second pandemic of hunger.

The crisis is projected to disproportionately affect Africa, where there is already widespread hunger. This comes as the World Health Organization estimates the number of COVID-19 cases in Africa could rise to 10 million in the next three to six months. Ten African countries don’t have a single ventilator.

“This is an extremely terrifying and frightening moment for the people of Africa. … We were already facing a major food crisis — that was before the coronavirus hit,” says lifelong South African human rights and climate justice activist Kumi Naidoo, former secretary-general of Amnesty International and former head of Greenpeace.

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