A report released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Thursday, titled, “Crop Prospect and Food Situation,” has listed Nigeria among 41 countries in need of external assistance for food with protracted conflicts primarily identified as driver of high levels of food insecurity.
It also noted that adverse weather conditions – particularly rainfall shortages in Africa – acutely affecting food availability and access for millions of people.
The report, a quarterly publication of United Nation’s FAO for the month of September, 2019, had 31 African, eight Asian and two Latin America and Caribbean countries on the report.
According to the FAO, the 41 countries currently in need of external food assistance are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Uganda, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
The report stated that these countries have continued to be in need of external assistance for food, with conflicts acting as the primary cause of high levels of food insecurity and adverse weather conditions – particularly rainfall shortages in Africa – acutely affecting food availability and access for millions of people.
It noted that adverse weather conditions had also affected agricultural production, reducing food availability and access in the listed countries.
“Conflict and civil insecurity are also primary drivers of food insecurity in Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen and parts of Myanmar and Nigeria.
The report further noted that: “Ongoing conflicts also continue to affect farming activities, limiting farmers’ access to land and causing a shortage of inputs.
“In north-east and North-west Nigeria, conflict incidents and violence by armed groups in recent months have been very high and have strongly hindered agro-pastoral activities.”
