EU pledges $26.6 mn to fight hunger in Haiti

(PORT AU PRINCE) - The European Union has pledged $26.6 million (20 million euros) to help improve food security in Haiti, where a study found more than 1.5 million people are at high risk of going hungry.

The aid agreement, signed Tuesday by the head of the EU delegation in Haiti, Javier Nino Perez, is aimed in particular at improving food security in five of the most at-risk departments, according to an EU statement.

Last month, Haiti and the United Nations called for $144 million to address food security in the Caribbean nation -- which was already the poorest in the Americas when it was devastated by a 2010 earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people.

"The situation of food insecurity has worsened in a very worrying manner in Haiti," said a recent report by Haiti's National Council for Food Security.

The report highlighted that in areas facing drought, around 39 percent of the population are unable to ensure consistent access to sufficient amounts of safe, nutritious food.

And in areas where 2012's storms brought flooding, 17 percent of the population face heightened food insecurity.

During a recent visit to Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid, Kristalina Georgieva, said Haiti "was not finished" needing aid, three years after the devastating quake.

Haiti is the largest beneficiary of the European Commission's humanitarian aid in Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than $345.3 million (260 million euros) provided since 1995.