Half a Million Nigerians Could Go Hungry for Lack of Funding, UN Says

(Bloomberg) -- The United Nations World Food Programme warned that it is on the verge of reducing food rations to half a million people in Nigeria’s northeast due to lack of funding. 

“The cuts would come just as severe hunger reaches a five-year high in the country in the wake of years of conflict and insecurity,” according to an emailed statement on Friday. 

At least $55 million is need “within weeks” for food supplies to be sustained. This is as the number of displaced people in the region reached an all-time high of 2 million in September. The impact of the Covid-19, rising food prices and declining food supplies have compounded the crisis.

“Current food security analysis show that 4.4 million people in northeast Nigeria do not know where their next meal is coming from while over 1 million children are malnourished,” the UN body said. 

Nigeria’s northeast region has been plagued by a decade-long Islamic insurgency which has stretched the country’s resources and military. Insecurity in the area has been compounded by bandit attacks in the northwest, disrupting farming and livelihoods.

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