Weather experts have predicted that more than 50 million people in West Africa and the Sahel region could face a food crisis from June to October.
Abdou Ali, a representative of the Agriculture, Hydrology, and Meteorology Research Centre, shared this warning during a workshop in Abuja.
Ali pointed to reasons such as insecurity, insufficient food production, and a delayed rainy season for the expected crisis. He proposed that countries in the area could alleviate the situation by improving their food production methods.
He noted, “We have many problems in the region—insecurity, bad food production and we are currently not in the rainy seasons.
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“We, however, have a tool that assesses the number of people under food crisis. 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 would be in a food crisis in the region from June to October if appropriate measures were not taken.
“We have made an assessment and for this year, we have a very big number of people that would be affected compared to last year, when about 37 million people were affected in the region.
“This year, more than 50 million people will be in 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 address the potential food crisis, the Director-General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Charles Anosike, announced that the agency had begun distributing its seasonal rainfall predictions to stakeholders through social media, television, and radio platforms.
He said adherence to early warnings would prevent loss of resources, especially by farmers.
“We are informing Nigerians early to know what to do to address the issues and we hope that adherence will mitigate the impact of flooding and other disasters. So, we encourage our citizens to heed the warning because it is real,” he said.
