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CONFLICT AND HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN NIGERIA

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has alerted that the food crisis might hit over 16.9 million Nigerians in 2022, as consumption is expected to slightly worsen, due to possible reduction in household, market stocks and rise in prices. They urged humanitarian and development partners to provide the much-needed interventions to save lives, sustain livelihoods and build the resilience of the at-risk populations.

Women and girls are the most vulnerable. Thousands have been abducted since the crisis began in 2009. Many more face gender-based violence, including sexual violence, trafficking, and forced survival sexin exchange for food and basic items. Heavy rains and flooding have further exacerbated the country’s food crisis, adding to the already dire humanitarian situation caused by the decade-long conflict.

About 27 million people in West Africa are suffering from hunger marking the region’s worst food crisis in a decade, international aid groups have said. Unless urgent action is taken, they said, the increase would mark “a new historic level” and an increase by more than a third during last year.

Since 2015, the number of people in need of emergency food assistance in the region – which includes Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali, and Nigeria – has nearly quadrupled, jumping from seven to 27 million.