A devastating food crisis is looming over West and Central Africa, with millions of people facing record hunger due to conflict, displacement, economic hardship, and extreme weather conditions. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that 36 million people are struggling to meet their basic food needs, a number that is projected to rise to 52 million during the lean season from June to August.
The situation is particularly dire, with almost three million people facing emergency conditions and 2,600 people in Mali at risk of catastrophic hunger. The WFP has emphasized that immediate funding is crucial to prevent a scale-down of its operations, which would further exacerbate the crisis. Margot van der Velden, Regional Director for West and Central Africa, stressed that “without immediate funding, WFP will be forced to scale down even further both in the number of people reached and the size of food rations distributed.”
The root causes of the crisis are complex and multifaceted. Conflict has displaced over 10 million vulnerable people across the region, including two million refugees and asylum seekers in Chad, Cameroon, Mauritania, and Niger. Additionally, nearly eight million people have been internally displaced, mainly in Nigeria and Cameroon. Food inflation, exacerbated by rising food and fuel costs, has pushed hunger levels to new highs. Recurrent extreme weather conditions have also eroded the ability of families to feed themselves.
Ollo Sib, a senior research adviser with WFP, recently traveled to affected areas, including communities in northern Ghana grappling with unprecedented drought. He noted that the cost of fertilizers and seeds was extremely high, and each failed sowing has added to the financial burden of the affected communities. In northern Mali, pastoralist elders are struggling to access markets to sell their goods, despite the rising cost of food.
The WFP is seeking $710 million to support its life-saving operations through the end of October, aiming to reach almost 12 million people with critical assistance. So far, teams have already reached three million of the most vulnerable individuals, including refugees, internally displaced people, malnourished children, and pregnant or breastfeeding women and girls. However, five million people risk losing assistance unless urgent funding is found.
The WFP has also called for governments and partners to invest in sustainable solutions aimed at building resilience and reducing long-term dependency on aid. Since 2018, the UN agency has been working with regional governments to address the root causes of hunger through a program that has rehabilitated over 300,000 hectares of land to support over four million people in more than 3,400 villages.
As the crisis deepens, it is essential for the international community to come together to support the people of West and Central Africa. The WFP’s warning serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for action to prevent a catastrophic food crisis from unfolding. With millions of lives at stake, immediate funding and support are crucial to preventing a humanitarian disaster.
