Dakar, July 6 (BNA): The United Nations World Food Program said on Wednesday that it needs additional funding to help millions of people in West and Central Africa get through the coming months known as the lean season.
The World Food Program said the current cash crisis means it will only be able to assist just over half of the 11.6 million people targeted under an emergency food operation in countries including Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Chad, where an influx of refugees from Sudan has added to the pressure. On limited resources, Reuters reported.
Conflicts and rising prices have helped push food insecurity to a 10-year high in West and Central Africa, according to an analysis in March by Cadre Harmonies, a regional framework for food security.
The World Food Program said malnutrition rates have also risen, with 16.5 million children under the age of five expected to be severely malnourished this year.
It is seeking $794 million to adequately respond to needs in the G5 Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger from July to December.
MI
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