United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday said more than 40 million people across West Africa could face desperate food shortages in the coming months, twice as many as before the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN News reported.
While addressing a press conference from Geneva Switzerland, WFP spokesperson, Elisabeth Byrs said over 21 million people across West Africa will find it difficult to feed themselves between June and August in the absence of sustained assistance.
“WFP estimates that an additional 20 million people could struggle to feed themselves due to the socio-economic impact of COVID19 in the next six months, doubling the number of food-insecure to 43 million in this region,” the WFP official said.
Ms. Byrs reiterated the need for WFP and partners to sustain the international body’s assistance to the people across the region especially in places such as Central Sahel, Central African Republic, Nigeria and Cameroon.
Last month, the UN Food Agency warned that the world is at risk of widespread famines “of biblical proportions” caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
David Beasley, head of the World Food Programme (WFP), said urgent action was needed to avoid a catastrophe.
According to the fourth annual Global Report on Food Crises, the number of people suffering from hunger is estimated to go from 135 million to more than 250 million. The report also found that the people in 55 countries were in living in situations of
The United Nations agency said those most at risk are in 10 countries affected by conflict, economic crisis, and climate change. The report also listed the names of countries including Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Nigeria, and Haiti.
The World Food Programme estimates that it will require more than $10 billion to fully fund all its operations in more than 80 countries around the world in the coming year.
