FAO: 3.6m People Risk Food Crisis in Northeast in 2020

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has said about 3.6 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States are likely to be affected by food insecurity from June to August 2020, if no humanitarian support is provided.

It stated that about 2.6 million people in the affected states already suffered a crisis or worse levels of food insecurity in 2019, following the armed insurgency which continued to have devastating impacts on food and nutrition status of people in the states.

The figure though represented a reduction of about 300 000 people from June 2019, it noted.

Quoting a recently released report, the Cadre Harmonisé (CH) analysis, the organisation, however, noted that there had been slow but steady progress in the North-east region, adding that a resurgence in conflict and insecurity, wide-scale floods ravaging homesteads and farmlands during the rainy season as well as outbreaks of diseases, including cholera, had all contributed to the worsening food crisis in the region.

FAO Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Suffyan Koroma, said: "While continued reductions in the number of food secure are welcome, there is urgent need to accelerate the pace by which we remove people from vulnerable situations.

"This can only be achieved by addressing the root causes of the conflict and by providing sustainable livelihoods support. As agriculture is the largest employer and source of income in these states, the promotion of sustainable and higher income agricultural livelihoods is critical."

According to the CH analysis, an estimated 4.02 million people in 16 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are facing food insecurity between October and December, 2019. While about 5.9 million are projected to be food insecure across the North from June to August 2020, if no humanitarian interventions occur.

The states included in the analysis were Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe, Borno and Kano.

Others are Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Niger, Benue and Plateau.

The Cadre Harmonisé analysis in Nigeria which is funded by Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and USAID, is a part of the ECOWAS regional framework for the consensual analysis of acute food insecurity situations and aims to strengthen food security information and analysis.

The report, among other things, called for the strengthening of food security and nutrition among the vulnerable as well as strong security actions in areas deemed ‘hard to reach’ and disconnected from humanitarian support.