The recent coup d’état in Niger has raised concerns over the stability of food security in West Africa, according to the World Bank.
According to The World Bank,this political upheaval has the potential to place an additional seven million people in the region at risk of severe food insecurity.
It also stated that the situation unfolds against a backdrop of soaring prices for commodities and staple foods, with an existing 3.3 million people already facing severe food insecurity during the lean season.
The World Bank, in its September ‘Food Security Update,’ emphasized the coup’s implications, highlighting the potential consequences of economic and financial sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States and the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
These sanctions have already caused food prices in Niger to surge by up to 21% in August.
It said, “With the government’s limited financial capacity to implement its food assistance programme, continued provision of food aid by the World Food Programme remains essential, but access restrictions are hindering delivery of aid.
“Moreover, FAO expects that shortages of seeds and feed and high fertilizer costs will affect the next agriculture season, exacerbating food insecurity, which is expected to persist beyond the lean season.”
The bank emphasised that Western and Central Africa are currently experiencing an ongoing food crisis, as evidenced by the escalating number of individuals requiring food and nutritional aid in the region. This figure has surged from approximately 10.7 million in 2019 to almost 29 million in 2021, and is projected to exceed 40 million in both 2022 and 2023.
It is emphasised that during the period spanning from June to August 2023, a total of 42.5 million individuals residing in Nigeria and other nations within the West African region experienced a state of food crisis or a more severe condition.
It said, “The main factors affecting food security are civil insecurity and conflict, which have led to forced displacement; climatic shocks; political instability; the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic; and the war in Ukraine, which have increased the volatility of prices for foodstuffs and other commodities and caused widespread inflation. Current food prices of the main staple and imported food products remain higher than during the same period last year.”
