{"id":111347,"date":"2024-04-12T20:01:23","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T19:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=111347"},"modified":"2024-04-12T20:01:23","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T19:01:23","slug":"55-million-people-in-west-central-africa-face-food-insecurity-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/55-million-people-in-west-central-africa-face-food-insecurity-report\/","title":{"rendered":"55 million people in West, Central Africa face food insecurity \u2014 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
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According to the March 2024 Cadre Harmonis\u00e9 food security analysis released by the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), nearly 55 million people in West and Central Africa will struggle to feed themselves in the June\u2013August 2024 lean season.<\/p>\n

This is contained in a statement issued by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Food Programme (WEF), and the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF).<\/p>\n

This figure, according to the statement, represents a four-million increase in the number of people who are food insecure compared to the November 2023 forecast and highlights a fourfold increase over the last five years.<\/p>\n

It said the situation is particularly worrying in conflict-affected northern Mali, where an estimated 2,600 people are likely to experience catastrophic hunger (IPC\/CH phase 5). The latest data also reveals a significant shift in the factors driving food insecurity in the region, beyond recurring conflicts.<\/p>\n

\u201cEconomic challenges such as currency devaluations, soaring inflation, stagnating production, and trade barriers have worsened the food crisis, affecting ordinary people across the region, with Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Mali being among the worst affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrices of major staple grains continue to rise across the region from 10 per cent to more than 100 per cent compared to the five-year average, driven by currency inflation, fuel and transport costs, ECOWAS sanctions, and restrictions on agropastoral product flows. Currency inflation is a major driver of price volatility in Ghana (23%), Nigeria (30%), Sierra Leone (54%), Liberia (10%), and The Gambia (16%).<\/p>\n

\u201cWest and Central Africa remain heavily dependent on imports to meet the population\u2019s food needs. Still, import bills continue to rise due to currency depreciation and high inflation, even as countries struggle with major fiscal constraints and macroeconomic challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cCereal production for the 2023\u20132024 agricultural season shows a deficit of 12 million tonnes, while the per capita availability of cereals is down by two per cent compared to the last agricultural season,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

According to WFP\u2019s Acting Regional Director for Western Africa, Margot Vandervelden, \u201cThe time to act is now. We need all partners to step up, engage, adopt, and implement innovative programmes to prevent the situation from getting out of control while ensuring no one is left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to invest more in resilience-building and longer-term solutions for the future of West Africa,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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\u201323 months do not consume the minimum number of foods required for optimal growth and development.<\/p>\n

High food prices, limited healthcare access, and inadequate diets primarily drive acute malnutrition in children under 5, adolescents, and pregnant women. In parts of northern Nigeria, the prevalence of acute malnutrition in women aged 15\u201349 years is as high as 31 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 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,\u201d said UNICEF Regional Director Gilles Fagninou.<\/p>\n

He further noted that \u201cgood nutrition in early life and childhood is the promise for a productive and educated workforce for tomorrow\u2019s society. To make a lasting difference in children\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to increasingly growing needs, FAO, UNICEF, and WFP call on national governments, international organisations, civil society, and the private sector to implement sustainable solutions that bolster food security, enhance agricultural productivity, and mitigate the adverse effects of economic volatility. Governments and the private sector need to collaborate to ensure that the fundamental human right to food is upheld for all.<\/p>\n

The statement further noted that in Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Niger, millions of people now benefit from national social protection programmes supported by UNICEF and WFP.<\/p>\n

Both agencies, according to the statement, are expanding their support for the Chad and Burkina Faso governments. Similarly, FAO, IFAD, and WFP have joined forces across the Sahel to increase productivity, availability, and access to nutritious food through resilience-building programmes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo respond to the unprecedented food and nutrition insecurity, it is important to mobilise for the promotion and support of policies that can encourage the diversification of plant, animal, and aquatic production and the processing of local foods (through the provision of agricultural inputs and access to productive resources for all to stimulate increased production and improve product availability),\u201d said FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for West Africa and the Sahel, Dr Robert Guei.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d Guei added.<\/p>\n

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According to the March 2024 Cadre Harmonis\u00e9 food security analysis released by the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), nearly 55 million people in West and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n55 million people in West, Central Africa face food insecurity \u2014 Report - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/55-million-people-in-west-central-africa-face-food-insecurity-report\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"55 million people in West, Central Africa face food insecurity \u2014 Report - 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