All indicators are suggesting that food security is jeopardized in Lebanon. What does journalist Khodor Hassan have to say to Sawt Beirut International (SBI) reporter Mahasen Morsel about the likelihood of starvation in the country?

“There are recurrent talks about hunger; some people are increasing its probability, saying it could become a reality, while others are underestimating the likelihood of starvation in its conventional sense, i.e. in a world war scenario,” Hassan said.

“Scientifically speaking, what we are going through in Lebanon will not lead to a world war famine but if we are to compare our situation today with that of world countries, it is possible to talk about famine in terms of the huge number of households who are actually unable to secure their daily bread,” he said.

“Figures indicate that during the month of Ramadan, prices swelled 600%. Such prices included that of vegetables that people tend to purchase when they cannot afford fatty foods. Therefore, we can say that what we are going through is famine indeed and that the situation is getting worse as the political class has failed to take any measure to reduce the scale of this disaster.”

Unfortunately, observers say that even under the harshest circumstances, that is, in the Lebanese civil war, the Lebanese citizen did not have any concerns over what to eat, as is happening today.