Nigeria is one of the countries on the brink of severe levels of food insecurity and could potentially fall into famine within three to six months as the coronavirus pandemic erodes people’s ability to access food, a new United Nations report warned on Friday.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, alongside Burkina Faso, Yemen, and South are the countries mentioned in the Early Warning Analysis of Acute Food Insecurity Hotspots report conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
It was found that millions of people who were already facing hunger are on the brink of famine as the pandemic plunders employment, disrupts agricultural activities, slashes remittances and sends crude prices spiralling.
“We are at a catastrophic turning point. Once again, we face the risk of famine in four different parts of the world at the same time,” said Mrs Margot van der Velden, WFP director of emergencies.
It was disclosed that the four countries were already facing a dangerous combination of conflict, mass displacement, economic crisis and climate and agricultural calamity and with COVID-19 and subsequent restrictions and lockdowns, the condition has worsened.
According to Mr Luca Russo, an agricultural economist at FAO, up to 80 per cent of the people experiencing acute food insecurity are farmers, herders, fishers and foresters, noting that COVID-19 has disrupted their ability to work their land, care for their animals, go fishing and access markets to sell their produce.
“They have little cash reserves to fall back on and could be forced to abandon their livelihoods,” Russo warned. “Once a poor family does that, getting back on their feet again becomes difficult.”
“Declines in farming household mean that poor farming families will have less money to buy food and meet critical needs. The amount available for other expenses like education, health spending will be cut. So we are not just talking about hunger here,” Mr Russo added.
The FAO and WFP analysis lists another 16 countries and territories – from Haiti to Zimbabwe – as at risk of rising levels of acute hunger and urges developed countries to take urgent action to avoid an international food emergency.
By 2019, 135 million people were facing a food crisis or emergency in 55 countries and territories.
The Hotspots report warns that unless critical action is taken fast, the world could experience its first outbreak of famine since it was last declared in 2017 in parts of South Sudan.
Famine is the most severe of five phases used by the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system to chart escalating degrees of food insecurity.
