...Foresees Worsened Food Security
Chioma Umeha
As it reaches its ninth year, the effect of Boko
Haram insurgency in North East has assumed devastating proportions with
widespread forced displacement, acute food and nutrition insecurity.
Figures available to INDEPENDENT show that almost
five million people are at crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity, with
pockets of people experiencing famine in some areas based on the Integrated
Food Security Phase Classification (IPC Phase 3-4). Of these, 4.7 million are
in three states – Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
Further reports from United Nations (UN) projected
that this figure reached 5.8 million by June 2017, of which 2.1 million people (41 per cent) were in emergency
or higher level of food insecurity
(IPC Phase 4-5).
Of the 5.8 million, 5.1 million were also in three
states – Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
From the projection for June 2017, the prevalence
of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) was within the crisis/emergency threshold
and pockets of very high GAM prevalence were found.
Also, the Cadre Harmonise Analysis projected food
and nutrition insecurity in Adamawa,
Borno and Yobe shows that 3.68 million would be food insecure based on the Integrated Food Security
Phase Classification (IPC phase 3-5) between June and August 2018.
The Cadre Harmonise Analysis said, “Without
maintained and even expanded humanitarian food and livelihood assistance, 3.7
million people will be estimated to be at risk of critical food insecurity in
the next lean season, June to August 2018.”
Meanwhile, the analysis showed that 2.56 million
people were food insecure according to IPC 3-5 between October and December,
last year.
The analysis painting a gory picture of the food
security situation in Northeast saying, it is extremely fragile. Humanitarian
actors are worried about how to achieve food security in the face of the
emergency which has also caused serious violations of international
humanitarian and human rights law.
Despite efforts to reach the entire North East,
many people remained inaccessible in six local government areas (LGAs) in Borno
State, in 2016, a report tagged,
‘Overview Of The Crisis,’ from Humanitarian Response Plan, January – December
2017, said.
The dire situation found in recently accessible
areas and the urgent life-saving needs suggest that those still unreachable are
in critical need.
Thirteen LGAs in Borno, five in Yobe and one in
Adamawa are partially accessible through military, the Humanitarian Response
Plan noted.
Reaching all people in need remains the biggest
challenge to the humanitarian operation due to restricted access and high
levels of insecurity, the December Humanitarian Response Plan said.
Hunger and malnutrition rates are alarming, as the
protection crisis has rapidly developed into a food and nutrition crisis.
Experts under the auspices of the UN Systems –
the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) and International NGOs (INGO forum) at a recent dialogue
called for urgent action to tackle food insecurity in the NE.
MalickNdiaye of World Food Programme (WFP) noted
that food and nutrition insecurity has reached extreme levels in parts of
Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
Ndiayespoke while making his presentation entitled
“Life-threatening situations and response 1: Food insecurity and malnutrition,”
during a two-day dialogue tagged “The Humanitarian Crisis in the North-East: Taking
Stock and Looking Ahead,” which held in Kano, recently.
The WFP official who gave an overview of his
agency’s effort in Fighting Hunger Worldwide said that about 34 percent of the
households surveyed in the three Northern states of Nigeria are food insecure,
while five percent were severely food insecure.
He also said, “Drivers of this food insecurity are
mainly displacement triggered by the ongoing armed conflict, limited land
access, high food prices, extended dry-spell, and early cessation of rainfall
and pest infestation.”
Christine Kaligirwa, Nutrition Specialist UNICEF,
Abuja said that the nutrition summary and needs for 2018 shows that 3,506,105 people are in need.
Kaligirwa who spoke while making her presentation
entitled, “Life-threatening situations and response 1: Malnutrition,” during
the recent two-day dialogue said $112
million is required to reach 2.7 million people with nutrition needs.
She called for urgent humanitarian interventions
to reconstruct the devastations in NE Nigeria, including food insecurity.
She said that key activities which UNICEF plans to
boost food security are, management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with
medical complication and
management of SAM without medical complication – out-patient therapeutic programme (OTP).
