Food security in the Sahel and West Africa
Ollo Sib, Senior Research, Assessment and Monitoring Officer for West and Central Africa Region, World Food Programme (WFP), said that the latest “Cadre Harmonisé’’ analysis of food
Food security in the Sahel and West Africa
Ollo Sib, Senior Research, Assessment and Monitoring Officer for West and Central Africa Region, World Food Programme (WFP), said that the latest “Cadre Harmonisé’’ analysis of food security in the Sahel and Western African countries had been released, revealing a record 38 million people experiencing food insecurity in West and Central Africa. The number of people in the emergency category had increased to 2.6 million, and there were 13,600 people in the catastrophe category in north-east Nigeria. Concerns were high due to food insecurity, compounded by a poor rainy season and insufficient water and pastures for livestock, the high cost of food and persistent insecurity, not to mention the long-term effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Moreover, extreme poverty had increased by 3 percentage points. Action must be taken immediately to step up the response before the next lean season.
Amadou Diop, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC-CH) Regional Advisor for Sahel and West Africa, said that among the 26 million people in acute food insecurity, 800,000 were in an emergency situation. It should not be forgotten that many of those households had already been under stress, resorting to coping mechanisms to meet their non-food needs. Investments must be scaled up to ensure off-season production and safeguard pastoralists’ livelihoods. Reduced availability of pastures and limited mobility due to insecurity would pose tremendous challenges to pastoralists in the next few months. In parallel, adequate investment in preparing for the next agricultural season would be necessary as of early 2022. Ensuring immediate access to food, sustaining food production and preserving food systems were the most cost-effective humanitarian response.
Replying to journalists, Mr. Sib said that admissions to the health-care centre he had visited in Burkina Faso had doubled, though the recent harvest meant that no hunger-induced deaths had yet to be recorded. The lean season typically began in June, but in 2022 it was expected to start as early as March. Through satellite imagery, WFP estimated that 35 per cent of villages had suffered severe crop loss due to conflict and massive displacement. In coastal countries, the food production system was also being adversely affected by climate change. WFP would need over USD 70 million to meet urgent needs over the next six months.
Mr. Diop, in response to the same questions, said that the poorest households would likely enter the lean season earlier than usual, possibly in March in the case of pastoralists. Households were already resorting to selling productive assets such as female livestock to meet their needs. Providing assistance to 1.7 people in the central Sahel alone would require USD 73 million.
Humanitarian situation in West Darfur
Paola Emerson, Head of Office – Sudan, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that the humanitarian situation in Darfur was worsening as internally displaced persons and refugees had yet to find durable solutions and the economic crisis was deepening their needs and deprivation, while vulnerable residents were also struggling to meet their basic needs. Some 6.2 million people across Darfur, in other words half the population, would need humanitarian assistance in 2022.
The situation in Jebel Moon was tense and needs had increased due to the sudden onset of conflicts around land, resources and property. Fighting between nomads and farmers on 17 November had resulted in 50 deaths, the displacement of nearly 10,000 people, including some 2,260 to Chad, and the burning and looting of over 770 houses. Humanitarian assistance had begun to be distributed to address priority needs in the areas of education, food, health, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, non-food items, protection and water.
The United Nations had called on regional and national authorities to immediately step up efforts to de-escalate tensions, investigate recent incidents and prevent further violence. Given the increasing and worsening needs, early and flexible humanitarian aid would be needed going into 2022. While the Government had the lead, the international community could play an important role in fostering conditions for durable solutions for the 2.4 million people who remained displaced in Darfur.
Toby Harward, Principal Situation Coordinator for Darfur, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that El Geneina and surrounding areas had been experiencing a cyclical series of intercommunal clashes that had had an extremely serious humanitarian impact on local populations, including widespread displacement. Most recently, there had been a significant escalation of criminality, killings and intercommunal violence in north Darfur, specifically in Jebel Moon, Kuraynik and, that morning, in the state capital, which had jeopardized the vital harvest period and threatened fragile social peace. UNHCR had also received alarming reports from other parts of Darfur concerning the burning of villages, attacks on public transport, sexual violence and deliberate crop destruction. The intercommunal violence, coupled with a poor rainy season and a pest infestation, had led to what some d