WFP Laments Food Insecurity, Malnutrition in West, Central Africa

The World Food Programme (WFP) projects that 49.5 million people are at risk of acute hunger in West and Central Africa between June and August of 2024.

According to the WFP, despite efforts by governments and partners, food insecurity continues to worsen in the two regions.

The 49.5 million is a four per cent increase compared to 2023, according to a regional food security analysis released 12 December 2023.

The trend is said to be particularly worrying in coastal countries, where the number of women, men, and children facing acute hunger (IPC/CH phases 3 or higher) is expected to reach 6.2 million during the June-August 2024 hunger gap – a 16 percent increase on last year.

The projected Acute hunger in West and Central Africa is mainly driven by conflict – which has forcibly displaced millions of people from their homes and farms, the impact of the climate crisis, and high food and fuel prices.

Lack of Funds
WFP’s Acting Regional Director for Western Africa, Margot Vandervelden, said the lack of funds to cater to affected persons has become a source of concern.

“Acute hunger remains at record levels in the region, yet funding needed to respond is not keeping a pace; this is forcing WFP to scale back lifesaving assistance for those most affected in their hour of greatest need”

“Insufficient funding means the moderately hungry will be forced to skip meals and consume less nutritious food, putting them at risk of falling back into crisis or emergency phases, perpetuating the cycle of hunger and malnutrition. We need to break this circle by tackling the root causes of hunger and by building the resilience of families in West Africa.” She added

The Cadre Harmonisé report says the nutritional situation remains worrying, particularly in the Sahel, where emergency levels of child wasting were reached and surpassed in several countries this year, notably in parts of Mali, north-west Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

According to the UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Felicité Tchibindat, children in West and Central Africa have a right to nutritious, safe, affordable, and sustainable diets.

“We invest to prevent child malnutrition happening in the first place, but we also need funding to keep supporting government services for the early detection, treatment, and care of malnourished children to help them survive, recover, and go on to live healthy and productive lives with dignity.”

The cost of a daily nutritious diet in central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) is 110 percent higher than the daily minimum wage in the region, and more and more households rely on local markets to provide their food, even in rural areas, according to the 2023 Food security and Nutrition report.

Joint Call On Government
To address the spiralling food insecurity and malnutrition, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, FAO, the UNICEF and WFP call on national government and financial partners to prioritize programmes that strengthen climate resilient food systems and livelihoods and invest in social protection systems, and improve natural resource management, including water, as an accelerator of resilience and development.

Participants in the Cadre Harmonisé food security analysis also recommended timely development and implementation of emergency programmes that address immediate food and nutritional needs of populations experiencing crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity and malnutrition (IPC/CH phases 3 to 5).

This will not only save lives but also prevent the risk of malnutrition among children in areas most affected by insecurity and economic crises, including in Burkina Faso, Chad, DRC, Mali, Nigeria and Niger.

The FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for West Africa and the Sahel, Dr. Robert Guei said “With the persistence of food and nutritional insecurity, we must act urgently to save millions of lives by advocating for the acceleration of resource mobilization to finance national response plans and facilitate access to areas facing insecurity or difficult to access, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria”

The Cadre Harmonisé analysis also disclosed that an estimated 94 million people in West and Central Africa are under food security “Stress” (IPC/CH phase 2) between October and December 2023.

Left without support, these communities are at risk of shifting to “crisis” and “emergency” (IPC/CH phases 3 and 4) levels of hunger tomorrow.

Shakirat Sadiq