Nearly 55 million face hunger in West and Central Africa are projected to have trouble feeding themselves in the next months, according to UN agencies, who have issued a warning about an impending food crisis. An alarming trend of hunger has been noted by the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This trend has quadrupled over the previous five years, and it is most pronounced during the June-August lean season.
Among the nations that have been hit the hardest are Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria. The agencies noted that the key staple grains’ skyrocketing prices—10% to 100% more than the five-year average—were the root cause of the crisis. There are about 2,600 people in northern Mali who could starve to death if the current trend continues.
The situation is critical, according to Margot Vandervelden, the acting regional director for West Africa at WFP. She highlighted that all partners must act quickly to stop the crisis from getting worse. She emphasized the need for more funding to be allocated towards resilience-building initiatives and long-term solutions to tackle the root causes of the region’s problems.
Furthermore, there is a great deal of malnutrition, particularly among youngsters, as a result of the food shortages. According to the authorities, 80% of youngsters whose ages range from six months to twenty-three months do not get the bare minimum of food needed for proper growth and development.
