The World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday said hunger levels in Nigeria and some other west African countries are at an all-time high, citing insecurity as the main reason for the problem.
Nigeria along with Mali and Burkina Faso are the three countries with the highest hunger level and all three countries are battling Islamist insurgencies that have displaced millions of people.
The United Nations agency reckon that the number of people struggling to get enough food in West and Central Africa is expected to rise to an all-time high of 48 million by mid-2023.
About 35 million people – or about 8% of the assessed population – are suffering from “food insecurity” across the region, according to analysis by an alliance of UN agencies.
Many countries have been hit by a combination of conflict, climate change, and rising prices. Floods this year have been particularly bad in Chad and Nigeria.
“A large part of the food insecure areas are places where the security situation has continued to worsen, particularly since last year, and this has had an impact on the functioning of the market, livelihoods and access to basic social services,” Federico Doehnert, a regional adviser at WFP, said.
Across Africa, from east to west, people are experiencing a food crisis that is bigger and more complex than the continent has ever seen, say diplomats and humanitarian workers.
Conflict and climate change are the long-term causes, while heavy debt burdens following the COVID-19 pandemic, rising prices and war in Ukraine have exacerbated the situation, they said.
With report from Reuters
