The United Nations has warned that it may soon be forced to cut food rations to more than half a million women, men and children in North-eastern Nigeria unless urgent funding is secured to continue life-saving operations in crisis-ridden Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
According to a statement by The United Nations World Food Programme, (WFP), the cuts will come just as severe hunger reaches a five-year high in the country in the wake of years of conflict and insecurity – a situation worsened by the socio-economic fallout from COVID-19, high food prices and limited food supply.
WFP’s Regional Director for West Africa,Chris Nikoi, says cutting rations means choosing who gets to eat and who goes to bed hungry.
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Nikoi added that If at least US$ 55 million is not received in a matter of weeks, WFP will have no choice but to cut food rations and reduce the number of people it serves – where assistance is already prioritized for the most vulnerable – as early as November.
The number of internally displaced people – people forced to flee their homes in search for safety – in northeast Nigeria has been rising steadily and reached an all-time high of over 2 million in September 2021, while current food security analyses show that 4.4 million people in northeast Nigeria do not know where their next meal is coming from.
Editor-Oloyede Oworu
