The threat of food insecurity in Africa is also notable for its breadth. In approximately 23 of Africa’s 54 countries, at least 10 percent of the population faces severe food insecurity. This is more than double the number since 2019. Central, eastern, western and southern Africa all have at least 10 per cent of the population experiencing severe food insecurity. In Central Africa, 19 percent of the population faces severe food insecurity, the highest proportion of any region. Five of the region’s seven countries are in conflict.
Although not as large as Nigeria, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 11 countries saw an increase in the number of severely food insecure populations by at least 20%. These major changes are acutely felt by those affected, even if the increases are not widely reported due to relatively small populations.
Conflict remains the main cause of severe food insecurity, but the pandemic’s impact on food production and trade continues to linger, with global supply chain disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, piracy and the Red Sea and Western There are also threats to ships from Houthi attacks. The Indian Ocean and weather shocks are all contributing to limited availability and sharp increases in food prices. El Niño weather patterns have caused devastating droughts in southern Africa this year. Meanwhile, West and Central Africa have experienced unusually heavy rainfall over the past few months due to the transition to La Niña. Most of Africa’s agriculture relies on rain, so the effects of these two climate extremes negatively impact tens of millions of people.
Below we take a closer look at the African countries with the largest populations facing severe food insecurity.
Nigeria
An estimated 31.7 million Nigerians are facing crisis or more severe food insecurity, of which approximately 1 million are at Phase 4 (emergency) level. This represents a 27% increase over last year and continues a steady upward trend since 2019.
From the radical Islamist threat of Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWA) in the northeast to armed banditry in the northwest and farmer-herder conflicts in the Middle Belt, violence displaces farmers and pastoralists. destroyed crops and livestock. Supply chain and market disruptions are causing food prices to soar across the country. The current inflation rate is 34%.
The government has deployed 10,000 “agro rangers” across 19 states to deal with insecurity in farms and rural areas. But unusually heavy rains in West and Central Africa have further disrupted conflict-affected communities (including a dam failure on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the capital of northeastern Borno state), farms and markets across Nigeria’s food belt. brought about.
sudan
Sudan has historically been Africa’s largest agricultural producer, but currently faces the second highest overall level of food insecurity on the continent. This food crisis is entirely self-inflicted, stemming from the conflict that erupted in August 2023 between the rival Sudanese National Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. An estimated 25.6 million people (half of the country’s population) experience severe food insecurity, with 8.5 million experiencing acute food insecurity and more than 756,000 experiencing catastrophic or famine-level food insecurity. facing. The situation is particularly critical for those trapped in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Al Jazeera states.
The United Nations has accused parties to the conflict of weaponizing access to food as international aid fails to reach millions of people in need.
Parties to the conflict have destroyed oil facilities, critical ecosystems, and water and wastewater infrastructure, exposing the country to long-term obstacles to economic development. The rainy season has begun, causing flooding in many parts of the country. The number of cholera infections is rapidly increasing. Sudan currently faces the world’s largest displacement crisis. The United Nations has accused parties to the conflict of weaponizing access to food as international aid fails to reach millions of people in need.
Sudan’s conflict is not only affecting its people. The crisis is straining the coping mechanisms of neighboring countries and increasing stress on the food security of their own populations and host displaced populations (see Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, and Central African Republic below).
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The main driver of food insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the multilayered conflict in the country’s eastern provinces. An estimated 23.4 million people (almost a quarter of the population) experience severe food insecurity. This includes 2.9 million people experiencing emergency level (Phase 4). These predictions of severe food insecurity may be an underestimate, as conflict is escalating in the east and more than 6.5 million internally displaced people are already struggling to survive.
As in other countries experiencing conflict, displacement and the threat of violence leave farmers unable to care for their crops and livestock, reducing food supplies and increasing the price of food found on the market. I am. More than 6 million people have been evacuated.
ethiopia
An estimated 15.8 million Ethiopians are in need of emergency food due to climate-related disasters (droughts in some regions, floods in others), prolonged displacement from the Tigray conflict, and continuing conflict with ethnic militias in Amhara and Oromia regions. Needs support.
south sudan
This humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by the rapid return of more than 630,000 South Sudanese nationals and more than 200,000 refugees who have fled the conflict in Sudan.
South Sudan continues to face high levels of acute food insecurity due to ongoing conflict, natural disasters (severe floods and droughts), and resulting high food prices. This year, 7.1 million people (more than half the population) are facing critical levels of food insecurity, of which 2.3 million are facing emergency levels (stage 4) and approximately 80,000 people are facing catastrophic levels (stage 4). 5 stages).
This humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by the rapid return of more than 630,000 South Sudanese nationals and approximately 200,000 refugees who have fled the conflict in Sudan.
The conflict in Sudan has also disrupted oil pipelines from South Sudan, eliminating the country’s main source of overseas income.
Other notable food insecurity hotspots
chad
Chad’s eastern states struggle under pressure to take in around 862,000 new refugees, mostly Sudanese, on top of the 400,000 who fled to Chad in the early 2000s during the first Darfur war. I am doing it. Eastern Chad relies heavily on imports from Sudan for many basic products, including staple foods. These imports have effectively stopped, and the recent surge in displaced people is expected to further deplete host communities’ food stocks. Meanwhile, poverty and the remote location of the concentration camps hinder international food aid.
In 2024, unusually heavy rains caused flooding that destroyed livestock, crops, and 160,000 homes.
In the Lak region of the country’s west, severe food insecurity is exacerbated by insecurity caused by Boko Haram and ISWA, deteriorating livelihoods, local production shortages, and repeated climate change (including floods and droughts). In 2024, unusually heavy rains caused flooding that destroyed livestock, crops, and 160,000 homes.
As a result of these crises, approximately 3.4 million Chadians (almost 20 percent of the population) face severe food insecurity, of whom 534,000 face emergency level (stage 4).
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso remains a highly fragile environment, with an increasingly isolated military junta facing an Islamic insurgency that has laid siege to the capital and more than 60 other municipalities. More than 2.7 million people in Burkina Faso currently face severe food insecurity, including 423,000 in emergency situations in the northern and eastern provinces where fighting is most intense. Uncertainty surrounding the situation in Burkina Faso (the military regime stopped reporting on the internal displacement crisis (latest total population of 2.3 million people) in March 2023) means that the situation in Burkina Faso is even worse than currently known. It means there is a possibility.
central african republic
In the Central African Republic (CAR), conflict remains the main driver of severe food insecurity for 2.5 million civilians. This includes 508,000 people who are in emergency status. Armed conflict has been ongoing in the Central African Republic for 12 years, and the situation is expected to worsen in a country where half the population depends on humanitarian aid.
mali
The information blackout introduced by Mali’s military junta means the situation could worsen further.
Attacks by radical Islamists on the population of Timbuktu, Gao, and Menaka have caused severe food insecurity in Mali, with catastrophic levels (Phase 5) occurring in Menaka. In Mopti, Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal, 121,000 people are expected to face emergency level (Phase 4), and around 1.4 million people are expected to face severe food insecurity. The information blackout introduced by Mali’s military junta means the situation could worsen further. The situation is further exacerbated by pillaging attacks on communities in the disputed region by junta forces and Russia’s paramilitary allies. Mali is also affected by severe flooding due to heavy rains caused by the La Niña phenomenon.
Somalia
Approximately 4.4 million Somalis (23 per cent of the population) continue to face severe food insecurity, including at emergency level, particularly in the south-central region, due to displacement and insecurity caused by the Islamist insurgency. This includes nearly 1 million people who are in stage 4). It was contested by al-Shabaab.
Non-conflict-related food insecurity
Southern Africa (Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
Six southern African countries have experienced El Niño-induced droughts and heatwaves, causing crop failures and livestock deaths, with all but Mozambique declaring a national state of emergency. The resulting shortages of staple crops and high food prices have killed 5.8 million people in Zambia, 5.7 million people in Malawi, 3.3 million people in Mozambique, 3 million people in Zimbabwe, 1.3 million people in Namibia, and 400,000 people in Lesotho. are facing severe food insecurity. . Zambia has been hit by a “perfect storm” of natural disasters, including armyworms, locusts and outbreaks of cassava brown streak disease.
Conflict in Mozambique’s northeast is estimated to contribute to approximately 45 percent of the country’s severe food insecurity. Approximately 773,000 Mozambicans face emergency level (Phase 4) food insecurity.
