The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has issued a dire warning, stating that no fewer than 2.6 million Nigerians residing in Borno, Sokoto, and Zamfara States, along with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), may confront a severe food crisis between June and August 2024.
The revelation came during the presentation of the October to November round of the Cadre Harmonise (CH) food security and early warning analysis in Abuja.
FAO’s country representative, Dominique Kouacou, made the announcement through Dr. Abubakar Suleiman, the Assistant FAO representative, Programme.
The CH analysis, conducted in 26 states and the FCT, aimed to assess the food security situation and make future projections.
Kouacou attributed the upcoming crisis to a series of challenges, including persistent insecurity issues such as insurgency and banditry, natural resource-based conflicts, high food and agricultural input costs due to elevated inflation, and severe dry spells in some states following the onset of rains.
Dr. Ernest Umakhihe, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, emphasized that the analysis was carried out and validated by a team of highly skilled professionals in the CH analysis task force over the past two weeks.
He stressed that despite daunting challenges, the government was committed to revitalizing the nation’s economy, with ongoing disruptions caused by global events like the impact of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, which had disrupted food systems and driven up input and food prices.
Umakhihe also highlighted the removal of petroleum subsidies as a contributing factor to food inflation and increases in the consumer price index.
Environmental and human factors, including climate change, displacements due to insecurity, and seasonal flooding, were recurrent concerns that affected food consumption patterns and led to the use of irreversible coping strategies among a significant population in Nigeria.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security expressed its determination to lead and support the CH process in Nigeria.
Furthermore, the permanent secretary revealed plans to mainstream all 36 states of the country into the CH analysis before the end of 2024, as part of their ongoing efforts to address the looming food crisis.