By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | 1 July 2024 (IDN) — The United Nations has announced the allocation of $11 million to address the food crisis surging in Nigeria’s north-east.
The UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffith, who disclosed this on X, the microblogging site, said the allocation was drawn from the UN Central Emergency Response Funds (UNCERF).
Conflict in the North East region has displaced some 2.2 million people and left another 4.4 million food insecure in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states along with armed banditry and kidnapping in states such as Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna, Benue and Niger.
Continued conflict, climate change, inflation and rising food prices are key drivers of this alarming trend. Some 26.5 million people across the country are now projected to face acute hunger in the June-August 2024 lean season.
This is a staggering increase from the 18.6 million people food insecure at the end of 2023.
Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the crisis, with women and girls paying the harshest price and facing increased risk of violence.
UNCERF is a UN program that allows the international organization to offer immediate funding to those affected by disasters caused by nature, wars, and other emergencies.
The food crisis in the country’s North-east, according to Mr Griffiths, is considered a challenge that requires urgent attention.
In 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projected that over 31.5 million people in Nigeria would face insufficient food between June and August 2024.
According to the report, other factors will contribute to the alarming food insecurity, including fuel scarcity, naira devaluation, currency crisis, rising inflation and consumer price index. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: A Nigerian food market. Credit: The Guardian NG
