West Africa has Worst Food Crisis in a Decade, aid groups say
West Africa is facing its worst food crisis in a decade due to increasing conflicts, droughts, floods and the war in Ukraine, nearly a dozen international organizations say.
The number of West Africans needing emergency food assistance has nearly quadrupled from 7 million in 2015 to 27 million this year in nations including Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali and Nigeria, where thousands have also been displaced because of rising Islamic extremist violence, the report said.
Oxfam’s regional director for West and Central Africa Assalama Dawalack Sidi said Cereal production in some parts of the Sahel has dropped by about a third compared to last year.
The report also says some 6.3 million children 5 years and under will be acutely malnourished this year.
Global prices have risen as trade has been interrupted by the war in Ukraine, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Wheat availability will also be greatly affected in six West African countries that import at least 30% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine, it said.
Source: AP News
Image: Good Word News
