West Africa Faces Devastating Food Crisis as 36 Million Struggle to Find Sustenance
A dire warning has been issued by the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) as West Africa grapples with a severe food and nutrition crisis. According to Ollo Sib, a senior regional research advisor, 36 million people in West and Central Africa are currently struggling to meet their basic food needs, with this number projected to rise to over 52 million during the June–August 2025 lean season. This staggering figure includes almost three million people in emergency conditions and 2,600 in Mali at risk of facing catastrophic hunger.
The crisis is further exacerbated by unyielding conflict, which has forcibly displaced over 10 million vulnerable individuals across the region, including 2.4 million refugees and asylum seekers in Chad, Cameroon, Mauritania, and Niger. An additional eight million people have been internally displaced, mainly in Nigeria and Cameroon, leaving many without access to their primary sources of sustenance. As a result, food inflation has pushed crisis hunger levels to new highs in countries such as Ghana, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire, with food prices continuing to rise in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.
Sib shared a poignant example of the human impact of this crisis, recounting his meeting with a herder in Northern Mali who was forced to sell his livestock to buy food for his family. In the northern part of Côte d’Ivoire, the price of cashew nuts has plummeted, while the cost of basic staples like rice has soared. Recurrent extreme weather events, including floods and droughts, have also eroded families’ ability to feed themselves, particularly in the Central Sahel, Lake Chad Basin, and the Central African Republic.
The WFP aims to reach almost 12 million people in West Africa and the Sahel with critical assistance and nutritional support this year. However, the agency urgently requires $710 million to continue life-saving assistance for the region’s most vulnerable for the next six months. As Sib emphasized, "While humanitarian needs in West and Central Africa are soaring, our resources to mount an effective response at scale are not keeping pace." The situation is dire, and immediate action is necessary to prevent further devastation and ensure that those in need receive the support they require to survive.