West Africa faces acute food shortages with thousands near famine, UN says

Forty-eight million people in West and Central Africa will face acute food insecurity in the coming months, a 10-year peak spurred by insecurity, climate shocks, COVID-19 and prices high, United Nations humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday.

West and Central Africa has faced increasing risks caused by higher temperatures and erratic rainfall.

War in Ukraine has contributed to food and fertilizer shortages in one of the world’s poorest regions.

The number of people without regular access to safe and nutritious food is projected to hit 48 million during the June-August lean season, according to a regional food security analysis presented by the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP), humanitarian agency OCHA, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and children’s agency UNICEF.

The region’s dependence on imports has made it vulnerable to high global inflation rates even though many parts of West Africa saw improved rainfall in 2022 and an increase in cereal production, Reuters reported.