Nigeria’s ‘significantly deteriorating’ food crisis threatens 25m people

Over 25 million Nigerians will likely face acute food insecurity this year, significantly higher than 19.5 million projected for last year, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

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The organization said 25.3 million are likely to be affected. The impact will be most felt between June and August and will be caused by continuing conflict in northern regions of the country, last year’s floods, high food prices, and economic slowdown.

“Acute food insecurity is mostly driven by the deterioration of security conditions and conflicts in northern states, which as of March 2022 (latest data available) have led to the displacement of about 3.17 million people and are constraining farmers’ access to their lands,” the report said. 

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Nigeria suffered devastating floods last year, leading to the destruction of lives, homes and farmlands.

The disaster worsened economic conditions in the northeast and northwest where deadly gangs have terrorised residents for years, stopping them from going to their farms. Reduced food yield has forced prices up across the country.

Food inflation stood at 24.32% in January from 23.75% the previous month, the highest annual rate in four years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

“Widespread flooding in 2022, affecting about 4.5 million people across the country has further compounded conditions, particularly in areas already facing high levels of insecurity,” FAO said in its latest quarterly report.

The report said this year’s food insecurity would be a “significant deterioration” over the forecast of 2022, with additional 5.85 million people brought into the net.