Acute food insecurity looms over 17 African countries (UN)

(Ecofin Agency) – The consequences of Covid-19 have put all countries around the world in big troubles. The fallouts are harsher on the poorest especially in Africa where some countries were already facing challenges due to political unrest and climate change.

The United Nations believes that the current picture, which combines the pandemic, conflicts and climate change, could push at least 17 African countries into a severe food insecurity in the coming four months. A joint FAO-WFP report published last July 30 mentions the Central Sahel area (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger), Angola, Central African Republic, Chad, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, which are among the 23 hunger hotspots in the world.

According to the document, cross-border threats, such as locust infestations in the Horn of Africa and African migratory locust swarms in southern Africa, are also an aggravating factor in some areas. The situation is worsened by bureaucratic obstacles and lack of funding to implement UN aid programs. “Families that rely on humanitarian assistance to survive are hanging by a thread. When we cannot reach them, that thread is cut, and the consequences are nothing short of catastrophic,” warns WFP Executive Director David Beasley.

Africa is home to four of the world’s “highest alert” hunger hotspots. New high alerts were issued for Ethiopia and Madagascar in addition to South Sudan and Northern Nigeria. In Ethiopia, the conflict in Tigray has created a devastating food emergency. With 401,000 people facing catastrophic conditions by September, the country has the highest number of people at risk of food distress in a single country. A record, since the 2011 famine in Somalia.

As for Madagascar, the UN estimates that 28,000 people should be plunged into near starvation conditions by the end of the year in the south of the country. This is in addition to drought (the worst in 40 years), combined with “rising food prices, sandstorms and pests affecting staple crops”.

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