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Food crisis looming over Africa



The war in Ukraine and the food crisis are already knocking at African doors. Famine, poverty, and displacements are flooding the continent, causing further unrest.


"Cereal production in some parts of the Sahel has dropped by about a third compared to last year. Family food supplies are running out. Drought, floods, conflict, and the economic impacts of COVID-19 have forced millions of people off their land, pushing them to the brink," says Assalama Dawalack Sidi, Oxfam's regional director for West and Central Africa.

"The situation is forcing hundreds of thousands of people to move to different communities and to live with host families who are already living in difficult conditions themselves. There is not enough food, let alone food that is nutritious enough for children. We must help them urgently because their health, their future and even their lives are at risk," said Philippe Adapoe, Save the Children's director for West and Central Africa.


Some countries have already taken measures to prevent the situation from worsening. In response to the soaring prices of certain commodities, the government o Madagascar has now frozen the prices of several essential products such as sugar, flour, rice, oil, gas, and cement.


The war in Ukraine and the food crises in Africa are intertwined in more than one way. On March 24th, the Danish government announced withdrawing DKK 290 million in aid programs for the Sahel. These funds will be used to aid in the Ukrainian crisis.

Sahel region suffers the most from the ongoing situation. According to the Humanitarian Response Plan, OCHA estimates that 3.5 million people in Burkina Faso will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2022. The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Burkina Faso surged to 921,000 in June 2020 from 87,000 in January 2019 due to increasing insecurity, which has also worsened humanitarian access.


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