3 yıl önce

UN: Millions of people facing severe hunger in West Africa's Sahel

“A combination of violence, insecurity, deep poverty and record-high food prices is exacerbating malnutrition and driving millions to the fringes of survival,” according to the UN.

AP

Parts of the Sahel region have faced their worst agricultural production in more than a decade.

The United Nations has warned that 18 million people in Africa’s Sahel region are facing severe hunger in the next three months.

The hunger crisis may press increased numbers of people to migrate out of the affected areas, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday.

The organisation cited the impacts of Russia's offensive in Ukraine, the coronavirus pandemic, climate-induced shocks and rising costs.

The largest number of people are at risk of severe hunger across the region since 2014, and four countries — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger — are facing “alarming levels”.

1.7 million people facing emergency levels of food insecurity there, according to the UN agency.

'A food security crisis to turn into a humanitarian disaster'

Parts of the Sahel region have faced their worst agricultural production in more than a decade, said Tomson Phiri, spokesperson for the UN’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning World Food Program.

“The situation is definitely going to get worse before it gets better,” Phiri told reporters in Geneva. “We may see more people trying to make ends meet by migrating: It’s a very, very likely possibility.”

Many people from the region are among migrants who seek to travel north to Europe in hopes of economic opportunity, more stability and safety.

“A combination of violence, insecurity, deep poverty and record-high food prices is exacerbating malnutrition and driving millions to the fringes of survival,” Martin Griffiths, the head of OCHA, said in a statement.

“The recent spike in food prices driven by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is threatening to turn a food security crisis into a humanitarian disaster,” he said.

Those two countries are key producers of wheat, barley and other agricultural products, and the conflict has almost entirely halted exports through the Black Sea.

Griffiths' office is releasing $30 million from its emergency relief fund for the four African countries.

Humanitarian groups earlier this year launched appeals seeking $3.8 billion in aid for the region in 2022, but they remain only 12 percent funded, OCHA said.

SOURCE: AP