U.N. humanitarian agencies have sounded the alarm over a deepening food crisis in West and Central Africa, with nearly 55 million people expected to face difficulties in feeding themselves in the coming months. The situation during the June-August lean season has worsened significantly over the past five years, exacerbated by economic challenges such as double-digit inflation and stagnant local production, alongside recurrent conflicts in the region.
Countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Mali are among the hardest hit, with approximately 2,600 individuals in northern areas at risk of experiencing catastrophic hunger, according to a joint statement by the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Margot Vandervelden, WFP’s acting regional director for West Africa, emphasized the urgency of the situation, calling for immediate action from all partners to prevent the crisis from spiraling out of control.
The scarcity of food has led to alarming levels of malnutrition, with an estimated 16.7 million children under the age of five acutely malnourished across West and Central Africa.
The heavy reliance on food imports in the region, coupled with soaring prices and high inflation rates in countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, has exacerbated the crisis.
Robert Guei, the FAO’s Sub-regional Coordinator for West Africa, stressed the need for policies to enhance and diversify local food production as a crucial step in addressing the unprecedented levels of food and nutrition insecurity in the region.
