West Africa is facing its worst food crisis in a decade, and it could worsen in the near future. That's according to a report released on Tuesday by a group of international nongovernmental organizations including Oxfam, Save the Children, the International Rescue Committee and several others.
"Twenty-seven million people are hungry and that number could rise to 38 million by June unless urgent action is taken," the Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP) news agency quoted the document as saying.
"Not only have food crises not subsided in a decade, they have worsened in the West African region, especially in Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali and Nigeria. Between 2015 and 2022, the number of people in need of emergency food assistance nearly quadrupled, from 7 million to 27 million," the report stressed.
As Assalama Davalak Sidi, Oxfam's regional director for West and Central Africa, noted for her part, "Grain production in some areas of the Sahel region has dropped by about a third compared to last year." "Families' food reserves are running low. Droughts, floods, conflicts and the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic have forced millions of people off their land, pushing them to the brink," she said.
"The situation is forcing hundreds of thousands of people to move to live with other families who are already in dire conditions. There is not enough food, and even less nutritious food for children. We must help them urgently because their health, future and even lives are in danger," warned Philippe Adapo, director of Save the Children's West and Central Africa NGO.
"Conflict-induced insecurity has contributed to a sharp decline in cultivated areas, and this, combined with pockets of drought and poor rainfall distribution, is negatively affecting food sources for communities, especially in the central Sahel," the report said.
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Based on materials from TASS