An estimated 7.1 million people are
now severely food insecure across Cameroon, Chad, Niger
and Nigeria, with 515 000 children suffering from Severe
Acute Malnutrition (SAM), reports NaijaAgroNet.
The Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) made this revelation at the just concluded
Oslo Humanitarian Conference today, organized to mobilize international
funding for the crisis-struck region, mostly where 80 to 90 percent of
people rely on farming, fishing and herding for their livelihoods.
Confirming the
revelation, the Director, FAO's Emergency and Rehabilitation Division,
Dominique Burgeon, noted that among
these countries are 515 000 children who are
suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM); a condition which,
if untreated, could lead to permanent damage to a child's development
and even death.
FAO pointed out that with the next planting season
starting in May, and with scarcity of animal fodder and water points during the
lean season, it has become crucial that crop seeds, tools and livestock support
reach families urgently to limit the scope of the deepening crisis that now
involves four countries,
According to FAO, the food crisis has split across borders as a
result of violence related to the armed group Boko
Haram in northeastern Nigeria , while some parts of neighboring countries in
the Lake Chad Basin, precisely Cameroon's Far North, western
Chad and southeastern Niger; with what it described as devastating
effects on food security and livelihoods.
FAO, therefore, urgently calls for $30
million in immediate emergency support to assist
farming families in these four countries to get ready to plant
in the upcoming May planting season and prevent them from
slipping into long-term dependency on food aid.