FAO says $30m urgently needed to avoid hunger crisis in Nigeria, 3 other countries

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), an agency of the United Nations (UN), has said the international community must urgently provide immediate emergency support of $30 million to countries in the Lake Chad Basin including Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon to help farming families get ready to plant in the upcoming May planting season and prevent them from slipping into long-term dependency on food aid.

Nigeria, FAO said, is bearing the brunt of the crisis.

The agency called on the international community to take urgent action to avoid a looming hunger crisis in Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the Lake Chad Basin.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva
The looming hunger crisis which arose as a result unrelenting conflict and instability in the region threatens the livelihoods of millions of families who are dependent on farming, livestock and fishing for their food.

The FAO, in a statement yesterday, warned that the food security situation in Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin will continue to deteriorate if swift and decisive action is not taken by the international community to arrest the situation in before the next planting season starting in May.

Dominique Burgeon, Director of FAO's Emergency and Rehabilitation Division, said "In the worst-affected areas, famine continues to loom -- and millions will remain trapped in cycles of severe hunger if we don't enable farmers to start cropping now. Our collective efforts cannot be limited to merely avoiding massive famine - they need to allow people to return to a dignified life. And supporting agriculture is the key to both. "

Some 7.1 million people are now severely food insecure across the four countries. Among them are 515 000 children who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition - a condition which, if untreated, can lead to permanent damage to a child's development and even death.

FAO is collaborating with the World Food Programme to ensure vulnerable families -- mainly internally displaced people and host communities -- receive food assistance, and at the same time  agriculture-based livelihood support in the form of provision of seeds, tools and fertilizer. This way, they will able to restore and protect their livelihoods and farming assets for ongoing food production.


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