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(Stanley Nwanosike, NAN)
An Enugu-based NGO, Amaka Chiwuike-Uba Foundation (ACUF) has called on governments at all levels to evolve ways of tackling poverty and hunger in the midst of COVID-19 outbreak.
Its Board of Trustees Chairman, Dr Chiwuike Uba, made the appeal in a press statement in Enugu on Tuesday.
Uba said that many households had become vulnerable to poverty and hunger as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus.
He noted that although the number of COVID-19 related deaths was rising, the number of deaths due to poverty and hunger could also be alarming.
According to him, the trend is capable of reversing the positive global economic development recorded in the past 30 years.
Uba, a Development Economist, said that Nigeria’s Global Hunger Index rating was not encouraging, saying, “Nigerians are suffering a serious level of hunger’’.
“There is also a rising level of unemployment and increase in food prices, which has an adverse effect on children and women of reproductive age.
“It can make them more susceptible to infections.
“So, beyond the coronavirus, governments should enliven extant food security pans and policies,’’ he said.
The ACUF board of trustees chairman further said tackling poverty and hunger would mitigate the psychological and socioeconomic impact COVID-19 on the public.
