Food crisis likely in June-October, meteorologists warn
Weather experts have warned that over 50 million people in West Africa and the Sahel region may experience a food crisis between June and October this year.
The representative of AGRHYMET, Dr. Abdou Ali, gave the warning yesterday in Abuja during the seasonal forecasting workshop for agro-hydro-climatic characteristics of the rainy season for the Sahelian and Sudanian zones of West Africa and the Sahel (PRESASS 2024).
He attributed the likely food crisis to insecurity, poor food production, and late onset of rainfall.The AGRHYMET representative said the crisis could be addressed if countries in the region changed their food production system.
Ali said: “We have many problems in the region: insecurity and bad food production. We are currently not in the rainy seasons. We, however, have a tool that assesses the number of people under a food crisis.
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“According to the analysis by the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) and its partners, a very large number of people will be in a food crisis in the region from June to October, if appropriate measures are not taken.
“We have made an assessment, and for this year, we have a very large number of people that would be affected, compared to last year where about 37 million people were affected in the region.
“This year, more than 50 million people will be in a food crisis in the region during the upcoming lean season from June to October, if appropriate measures are not taken to manage the situations.”
To prevent the looming food crisis, the AGRHYMET representative said: “Each country needs to mobilise funds, activate contingency plans, call for assistance from partners and provide food, where necessary, to manage the crisis.
“There is a need to increase the food producing system because most of the current systems rely on rainfall. Currently, the rainfalls are very bad. So, we need to change the paradigm to something that would be resilient to climate variability and climate change.”