Nearly 55 million people in West and Central Africa will struggle to feed themselves during the lean season between June and August 2024, according to a March 2023 food security analysis. In a joint statement on Friday, UN humanitarian agencies warned that the number of people who are food insecure in the Sahel and beyond has increased by four million compared to the November 2023 forecast and has quadrupled in the last five years.
The United Nations World Food Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said the situation is particularly worrying in conflict-affected northern Mali, where an estimated 2,600 people are likely to face catastrophic hunger (IPC phase 5).
The Cadre Harmonisé analysis found that among the countries analyzed, 31.7 million people in Nigeria, 3.4 million in Niger, 3.3 million in Chad, 2.7 million in Burkina Faso, 2.4 million in Cameroon, 1.6 million in Sierra Leone, 1.3 million in Mali and about 1 million in Ghana are estimated to experience acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse during the upcoming lean season.
The latest data reveal a significant shift in the factors driving food insecurity in the region, beyond recurrent conflict. The worsening food and nutrition situation is the result of a combination of factors, including persistent insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin, the Liptako Gourma region, northwest, northeast and central Nigeria, and northern regions of Cameroon.
Economic challenges such as currency devaluations, soaring inflation, stagnating production and trade barriers have exacerbated the food crisis, affecting ordinary people across the region, with Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Mali among the worst affected.
Prices of key staple grains continue to rise across the region, from 10 percent to more than 100 percent above the five-year average, driven by currency inflation, fuel and transportation costs, sanctions, and restrictions on the flow of agro-pastoral products. Currency inflation is a major driver of price volatility in Ghana (23 percent), Nigeria (30 percent), Sierra Leone (54 percent), Liberia (10 percent), and The Gambia (16 percent).
Overall inflation in the region remains very high, at 21 percent (up from 18 percent in January 2023).
The 2023-2024 agricultural season ended with cereal production at 77 million tons, down 0.6% from the previous year. This is mainly due to a significant drop in production in Niger (-5.5%), Nigeria (-5.7%) and Chad (-7.2%), exacerbated by prolonged periods of drought and flooding.
The UN agencies warn that countries in West and Central Africa remain heavily dependent on imports to meet their populations' food needs. However, import bills continue to rise due to currency depreciation and high inflation, even as countries face significant fiscal constraints and macroeconomic challenges.
“The time to act is now. We need all partners to step up, engage, adopt and implement innovative programs to prevent the situation from getting out of control, while ensuring no one is left behind,” said Margot Vandervelden, WFP’s Acting Regional Director for Western Africa.
“We need to invest more in resilience-building and longer-term solutions for the future of West Africa,” she added.
Malnutrition in West and Central Africa is alarmingly high, with 16.7 million children under five acutely malnourished and more than 2 out of 3 households unable to afford healthy diets. In addition, 8 out of 10 children aged 6–23 months do not consume the minimum amount of food required for optimal growth and development.
High food prices, limited access to health services and inadequate diets are the main causes of acute malnutrition among children under five, adolescents and pregnant women. In parts of northern Nigeria, the prevalence of acute malnutrition among women aged 15-49 is as high as 31 percent.
"For children in the region to reach their full potential, we need to ensure that each girl and boy receives good nutrition and care, lives in a healthy and safe environment, and is given the right learning opportunities," said UNICEF Regional Director Gilles Fagninou.
"Good nutrition in early life and childhood is the promise for a productive and educated workforce for tomorrow's society. To make a lasting difference in children's lives, we need to consider the situation of the child as a whole and strengthen education, health, water and sanitation, food, and social protection systems."
In response to the growing needs, FAO, UNICEF and WFP call on national governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to implement sustainable solutions that strengthen food security, increase agricultural productivity and mitigate the negative effects of economic volatility.
They say governments and the private sector must work together to ensure that the fundamental human right to food is met for all.
"To respond to the unprecedented food and nutrition insecurity, it is important to mobilize for the promotion and support of policies that can encourage the diversification of plant, animal, and aquatic production and the processing of local foods," said FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for West Africa and the Sahel, Robert Guei.
"This is crucial not only to ensure healthy, affordable diets all year round, but also and above all to protect biodiversity, with the potential to mitigate the effects of climate change, and above all to counter high food prices and protect the livelihood of the affected population."
Further information
Full text: Worsening hunger grips West and Central Africa amid persistent conflict and economic turmoil, WFP, FAO, UNICEF, joint press release, published April 12, 2024
https://www.wfp.org/news/worsening-hunger-grips-west-and-central-africa-amid-persistent-conflict-and-economic-turmoil