According to reports gathered, about 33 million people are expected to experience acute food insecurity in Nigeria in the year 2025.
This is according to a statement signed and issued out by the head of communications and media for the United Nations World Food Programme, Chi Lael, released to newsmen today, Thursday, the 8th of November, 2024.
The food insecurity and malnutrition analysis, Cadre Harmonisé, led by the Government of Nigeria and supported by partners, highlighted on the deterioration of food security in the country.
The report predicts that 33.1 million people will face greater levels of acute food insecurity during the upcoming lean season from June to August next year.
The statement partly reads thus: "This represents an alarming increase of 7 million people from the same period last year, driven by economic hardship, coupled with record-high inflation, the effects of climate change, and persistent violence in the northeastern states of the country"
“Between October and December 2024, 25.1 million people are expected to experience acute food insecurity, even at the peak of the harvest season. Of this, 3.8 million live in the northeastern states, and this number is projected to rise to 5 million,” the statement read"
Findings relay that the number of people experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity is projected to increase from 1 million in the peak of the 2024 lean season to 1.8 million at the same time in 2025, representing a worrying 80 per cent rise.
“Approximately 5.4 million children and nearly 800,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are at risk of acute malnutrition or wasting in six of the most affected states: Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe in the northeast, and Sokoto, Katsina, and Zamfara in the northwest. Of these, an alarming 1.8 million children could face severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and require critical nutrition treatment.”
The statement also said that the Nigeria is struggling with economic hardship, compounded by record-high inflation (which reached 40.9 per cent for food, and 34.2 per cent for all items in June 2024).
“This is a record increase in food prices amid record-high transportation costs. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the price of beans in October 2024 was 282 per cent higher than the same period in 2023. Similarly, the price of local rice rose by 153 per cent compared to October last year. These economic shocks have resulted in the continuous devaluation of the local currency, the naira, against the US dollar, external economic factors, and last year’s policy changes, including the discontinuation of the fuel subsidy" he said.
