The United Nations is warning nearly 50 million people in West and Central Africa are at risk of hunger, as the region’s food insecurity crisis has been compounded by war, COVID-19, rising prices and the effects of the climate catastrophe. Over 16 million children under 5 are facing acute malnutrition this year. Some 45,000 people in the Sahel are facing catastrophic hunger as fighting in the region has cut off humanitarian and food supply routes. Conflict around Lake Chad and in the Central African Republic have also made access near impossible. The World Food Programme is struggling to respond to the crisis as it also grapples with a $900 million deficit. This is the WFP’s Alexandre Le Cuziat.

Alexandre Le Cuziat: “We only have around 6 or 7 million people that we can reach, and even these 6 or 7 million people will be on rations that will be reduced for the moment. We will not have enough money to give total food rations or the 2,000 calories someone needs each day to be able to survive.”