from AMADOU NDIAYE in Dakar, Senegal
Senegal Bureau
DAKAR, (CAJ News) – ONE of the deadliest climate-related disasters in Central and West Africa is likely to deepen the already worrisome hunger situation for millions in the regions.
Already, above-average rainfall and flooding has affected 5 million people in 19 countries across the region, claiming hundreds of lives, destroying livelihoods, displacing tens of thousands from their homes and decimating over 1 million hectares of cropland.
This in regions already facing an unprecedented hunger crisis.
Chris Nikoi, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Director for Western Africa, said conflict, the socio-economic fallout from the pandemic, and skyrocketing food prices had already pushed families in this region to the limit.
“These floods act as a misery multiplier and are the final straw for communities already struggling to keep their heads above water,” he said.
WFP requires US$ 15 million through March 2023 to ensure its flood-response programme can effectively assist affected communities.
WFP is providing a three-month emergency assistance package targeting 427 000 people in critically affected countries including the Central African Republic, Chad, the Gambia, Nigeria, Sao Tome & Principe and Sierra Leone.
In arid lands across the Sahel, WFP’s focus is on building local resilience to the effects of the climate crisis, by promoting farming techniques that help restore degraded lands and ecosystems.
World leaders are preparing to meet on the climate crisis at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt in November.
– CAJ News