Miss Zomboko
JF-Expert Member
- May 18, 2014
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Takriban watu milioni 55 wanakabiliwa na kitisho cha njaa katika kanda ya Afrika Magharibi na Kati kutokana na kupanda kwa bei za vyakula.
Taarifa ya pamoja iliyotolewa na Shirika la Mpango wa Chakula duniani WFP, Shirika la kuhudumia watoto UNICEF na lile la Chakula na Kilimo, imesema kuwa idadi ya watu waliokabiliwa na njaa wakati wa msimu wa mavuno imeongezeka mara nne katika kipindi cha miaka mitano iliyopita.
Nchi zilizoathirika zaidi ni Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, na Mali.
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Nearly 55 million people will struggle to feed themselves in the coming months in West and Central Africa as soaring prices have fuelled a food crisis, United Nations agencies have warned.
In a joint statement on Friday, the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN children’s agency UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that the number facing hunger during the June-August lean season had quadrupled over the last five years.
It said economic challenges such as double-digit inflation and stagnating local production had become major drivers of the crisis, beyond recurrent conflicts in the region.
And it noted that Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Mali would be among the worst affected.
The UN agencies said the prices of major staple grains had continued to rise across the region from 10 percent to more than 100 percent compared with the five-year average.
The situation was particularly worrying in northern Mali, where some 2,600 people are likely to experience catastrophic hunger, it added.
“The time to act is now. We need all partners to step up … to prevent the situation from getting out of control,” said Margot Vandervelden, WFP’s acting regional director for West Africa.
“We need to invest more in resilience-building and longer-term solutions for the future of West Africa,” she added.
Malnourished children
Food shortages have also resulted in “alarmingly high” levels of malnutrition, with children badly affected.
It also said some 16.7 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished and more than two out of three households are unable to afford healthy diets.
“For children in the region to reach their full potential, we need to ensure that each girl and boy receives good nutrition and care, lives in a healthy and safe environment, and is given the right learning opportunities,” said UNICEF Regional Director Gilles Fagninou.
“To make a lasting difference in children’s lives, we need to consider the situation of the child as a whole and strengthen education, health, water and sanitation, food, and social protection systems,” he added.
The region’s heavy dependence on food imports has tightened the squeeze, particularly for countries battling high inflation such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
Policies should be introduced to boost and diversify local food production “to respond to the unprecedented food and nutrition insecurity”, said Robert Guei, the FAO’s Sub-regional Coordinator for West Africa.
Taarifa ya pamoja iliyotolewa na Shirika la Mpango wa Chakula duniani WFP, Shirika la kuhudumia watoto UNICEF na lile la Chakula na Kilimo, imesema kuwa idadi ya watu waliokabiliwa na njaa wakati wa msimu wa mavuno imeongezeka mara nne katika kipindi cha miaka mitano iliyopita.
Nchi zilizoathirika zaidi ni Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, na Mali.
========
Nearly 55 million people will struggle to feed themselves in the coming months in West and Central Africa as soaring prices have fuelled a food crisis, United Nations agencies have warned.
In a joint statement on Friday, the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN children’s agency UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that the number facing hunger during the June-August lean season had quadrupled over the last five years.
It said economic challenges such as double-digit inflation and stagnating local production had become major drivers of the crisis, beyond recurrent conflicts in the region.
And it noted that Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Mali would be among the worst affected.
The UN agencies said the prices of major staple grains had continued to rise across the region from 10 percent to more than 100 percent compared with the five-year average.
The situation was particularly worrying in northern Mali, where some 2,600 people are likely to experience catastrophic hunger, it added.
“The time to act is now. We need all partners to step up … to prevent the situation from getting out of control,” said Margot Vandervelden, WFP’s acting regional director for West Africa.
“We need to invest more in resilience-building and longer-term solutions for the future of West Africa,” she added.
Malnourished children
Food shortages have also resulted in “alarmingly high” levels of malnutrition, with children badly affected.
It also said some 16.7 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished and more than two out of three households are unable to afford healthy diets.
“For children in the region to reach their full potential, we need to ensure that each girl and boy receives good nutrition and care, lives in a healthy and safe environment, and is given the right learning opportunities,” said UNICEF Regional Director Gilles Fagninou.
“To make a lasting difference in children’s lives, we need to consider the situation of the child as a whole and strengthen education, health, water and sanitation, food, and social protection systems,” he added.
The region’s heavy dependence on food imports has tightened the squeeze, particularly for countries battling high inflation such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
Policies should be introduced to boost and diversify local food production “to respond to the unprecedented food and nutrition insecurity”, said Robert Guei, the FAO’s Sub-regional Coordinator for West Africa.
