The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that over 52 million people in West and Central Africa could face hunger between June and August.
According to the latest analysis, at least 36 million people are currently struggling to meet their basic food needs.
The WFP highlighted that this record hunger is driven by conflict, displacement, economic hardship, and repeated extreme weather, pushing the region toward a major crisis.
Among those affected, nearly three million people are facing emergency levels of hunger, while 2,600 people in Mali are at risk of catastrophic hunger.
Despite the historic scale of the need, available resources remain limited, putting millions of lives at risk.
“Without immediate funding, WFP will be forced to scale down even further both in the number of people reached and the size of food rations distributed,” said Margot van der Velden, WFP’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
Food Insecurity in the Sahel: A growing crisis
Food insecurity in the Sahel has surged from just four per cent of the population in 2019 to 30% today, according to Ollo Sib, a senior research adviser with WFP.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva from Dakar on Friday, Sib warned that the region’s food security situation remains extremely difficult and dire.
“We hope that our voice will be heard,” he said.
Sib recently visited some of the hardest-hit areas, including communities in northern Ghana grappling with unprecedented drought.
“They were forced to replant two to three times, and for them, each failed sowing is an additional financial burden, as the cost of fertilisers and seeds was extremely high in those locations,” he explained.
The assessment team also visited northern Mali, the only place in the region where people are facing catastrophic food security conditions.
“We had the opportunity to interact with pastoralist elders who typically sell their livestock to buy cereals. This year, they were worried because the cost of food had risen by 50% compared to the five-year average. At the same time, they are unable to access markets to sell their goods,” he said.
Conflict and displacement driving hunger
The World Food Programme (WFP) stated that persistent conflict is one of the key drivers of worsening hunger in West and Central Africa.
Fighting has displaced over 10 million of the most vulnerable people in the region, including more than two million refugees and asylum seekers in Chad, Cameroon, Mauritania, and Niger.
“Nearly eight million more have been internally displaced, primarily in Nigeria and Cameroon.
“At the same time, rising food and fuel costs have driven food inflation, pushing hunger levels to new extremes. Recurrent extreme weather conditions are also further eroding families’ ability to feed themselves,” the WFP added.
WFP’s response and funding appeal
WFP stands ready to respond and scale up vital assistance in West Africa and the Sahel.
- The UN agency is seeking $710 million to support its life-saving operations through the end of October. The aim is to reach almost 12 million people this year with critical assistance.
- So far, teams have already reached three million of the most vulnerable individuals, including refugees, internally displaced people, malnourished children under five, and pregnant or breastfeeding women and girls.
However, the agency warned that five million people risk losing assistance unless urgent funding is found.
Investing in long-term solutions
WFP also called for governments and partners to invest in sustainable solutions aimed at building resilience and reducing long-term dependency on aid.
Since 2018, the UN agency has been working with regional governments to address the root causes of hunger through a programme that has rehabilitated over 300,000 hectares of land, benefiting more than four million people in over 3,400 villages.
