Forecasters warned that a food crisis could occur in West Africa and the Sahel between June and October, with more than 50 million people affected. This was stated by a representative of the Agriculture, Hydrology and Meteorology Research Centre, Abdou Ali, at a seminar on the seasonal forecasting of the agricultural climatic characteristics of the rainy season in the Sahel and Sudan zones of West Africa in Abuja.
Ali said that factors such as insecurity, insufficient food production and a delay in the rainy season are behind the expected food crisis. He argued that by reforming food production systems, countries in the regions could deal with this crisis. He pointed out, a lot of problems in the area are insecurity, poor food production and we’re not going to have any rain this year.
However, we have a tool to assess the number of people who are suffering from hunger. A large number of people would be in a food crisis in the Sahel from June to October if appropriate measures were not taken, according to an analysis carried out by the Interinstitutional Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel and its partners.
We’ve made an assessment and compared to last year, when around 37 million people were affected in the region, we have a very large number of persons that will be affected this year. If no measures are taken to mitigate the situation, more than 50 million people in the region will suffer from a food crisis this year as part of the upcoming wet season between June and October.’
In order to cope with the crisis, Ali stressed the need for countries to act quickly, mobilise resources, implement contingency plans and strengthen food production. In order to avoid loss of resources, particularly for farmers, Charles Anosike, Director General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, has called on people to comply with early warning.
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