Nigeria, analysts say, for the first time has been included among countries that need external food assistance to survive, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nation (UN) has said.
The FAO has released a list of countries across the world that are in need of external food assistance.
In the FAO’s quarterly report titled Crop Prospects and Food Situation, the organisation said the need for the food assistance is as a result of high levels of food insecurity and adverse weather conditions. “About half of the 41 countries needing external assistance for food are home to civil unrest or full-fledged conflict, while others face severe resource strains due to large influxes of refugees from neighbouring countries experiencing unrest,” the report read.
Of the 41 countries listed, 31 are in Africa. The countries listed as being in need of 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 and Ethiopia
other include 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.
FAO further stated that the main reasons why Nigeria and other countries is in need of food assistance are conflict and civil insecurity. “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. “Ongoing conflicts also continue to affect farming activities, limiting farmers’ access to land and causing a shortage of inputs. The conflicts and civil insecurity are affecting North-east Nigeria, the Lake Chad Basin, the Lac and Tibesti regions of Chad, northern and central Mali. “In northeast and Northwest Nigeria, conflict incidents and violence by armed groups in recent months have been very high and have strongly hindered agro-pastoral activities,” the report added.
