Global efforts must be ramped up to stem poverty 07 May 2021 A woman scavenges a waste dump for foodstuff and other items on the outskirts of Ahmadabad, India. Reuters The report that nearly 20 million more people faced food crises last year amid armed conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic and weather extremes is alarming. But this is not the end of the story. The outlook for this year is very grim, according to a report by the Global Network Against Food Crises. The humanitarian agency, set up in 2016 by the European Union and United Nations, also warned that acute food insecurity has continued to worsen since 2017, the first year of its annual report into food crises.