Nearly half of the population - 47 percent - suffers from high and surging acute food insecurity in the Central African Republic as the country reels from the impacts of ongoing conflict and COVID-19, and braces for another harsh May-August lean season, warn the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). This means over 2.2 million people - most of them living in rural areas - face severe levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) between April and August and need urgent support to avert the loss of lives and livelihoods, finds the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis.