The latest report from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and its partners says that around 16% of Nigerians will face severe food insecurity or hunger between June and August 2024.
The figure for 2024 is higher when compared to the report for 2023 and denotes the increasing spate of hunger and the worsening living conditions across not just Nigeria but West and Central Africa.
According to the report, the total number of people across West and Central Africa to face food insecurity during the period also referred to as the lean season stands at a staggering 52 million- about 12% of the analysed population.
For Nigeria, the report noted that around 32 million people will face severe hunger put at crisis level or emergency food insecurity.
It states,“Looking ahead, the projected outlook for the period June-August 2024 appears even more severe: nearly 52 million people across the 17 analyzed countries are anticipated to face phases 3 to 5 during the lean season of June-August. This translates to 12% of the analyzed population struggling to meet their basic food and nutrition requirements.”
“These countries include Mauritania (656 652, 14%), Burkina Faso (2 734 196, 12%), Niger (3 436,892, 13%), Chad (3,364,453, 20%), Sierra Leone (1,569,895, 20%), and Nigeria (31,758,164, 16%).”
States to be affected
Furthermore, the report noted that food insecurity would be more severe in the northern states of Sokoto and Zamfara where the IPC analysis described the situation as critical, with over 15% of children experiencing acute malnutrition.
Causes
The IRC attributed the cause of the severity of food insecurity across the Sahelian region to insecurity, climate change, and worsening macroeconomic conditions, especially on the inflationary front.
In January 2024, the average inflation rate in the region stood at 21%- an increase from 18% recorded in the same period of 2023. Worse still are countries like Sierra Leone which have seen inflation levels rise to 54%.
What you should know
Earlier in the year, the World Bank, in its food security report for Nigeria, projected that seven states in the North will face severe food security problems with the spate of food inflation and insecurity across the food-producing states.
While the Boko Haram insurgency greatly affected food production in the Northeast leading to the destruction of farmlands, the farmer-herder crisis and banditry have significantly affected food production across the Northwest and North-central regions.
Insecurity coupled with disruptions in global food supply chains has pushed food inflation in Nigeria to 40.01% in the month of March.