Above: flooding during Hurricane Sandy (UN Photo/Logan Abassi)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Malnutrition rates in some parts of Haiti have increased since last fall as more and more people in the country do not have enough food to eat, according to the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Food shortages are now affecting seven of 10 departments in Haiti, with nearly 82,000 children under five years of age suffering from malnourishment, according to the agency.

“The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said today that some 1.5 million people continue to have severe food insecurity in Haiti, mostly as a result of drought and the impact of Hurricanes Isaac and Sandy,” said UN spokesperson Eduardo del Buey. “UN agencies and humanitarian organizations are working with the Government to reach hundreds of thousands of people with food assistance.”

The news echoes a recent report by the UN’s World Food Programme, which found that 1.5 million faced food insecurity and more than double that figure faced a moderate level of food insecurity.

Nigel Fisher, the Acting Special Representative for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Haiti, warned last month of “high levels of food insecurity facing many households.”