Weather experts predict a food crisis in West Africa

Weather experts have warned that more than 50 million people in West Africa and the Sahel region could face a food crisis between June and October.

A representative of the Agricultural, Hydrology and Meteorological Research Centre, Abdou Ali, stated this on Monday during the seasonal forecast workshop on the agro-hydro-climatic characteristics of the rainy season for the Sahel and Sudanese zones of West Africa in Abuja.

Ali attributed the expected food crisis to factors such as insecurity, inadequate food production and a delayed start to the rainy season. He suggested that countries in the regions could ease the crisis by reforming their food production systems.

He noted: “We have a lot of problems in the region – insecurity, poor food production and we are not currently in the rainy seasons.

“However, we have an instrument that assesses the number of people who are under food crisis. According to the analysis by the Standing Inter-State Committee for Drought Combat in the Sahel (CILSS) and its partners, a very large number of people in the region would be in a food crisis from June to October if appropriate measures were not taken.

“We have made an assessment and for this year we have a very large number of people who would be affected compared to last year when about 37 million people in the region were affected.

“This year, more than 50 million people in the region will face a food crisis during the upcoming lean season from June to October if appropriate measures are not taken to control the situations.”

Ali stated that “every country must mobilize funds, activate contingency plans, seek the help of partners and also supply food where necessary to manage the crisis,” and said that “the food production system must be expanded.”

To address the potential food crisis, the Director-General of the Nigeria Meteorological Agency, Charles Anosike, announced that the agency had begun disseminating its seasonal rainfall forecasts to stakeholders through social media, television and radio platforms.

He said adhering to early warnings would prevent loss of resources, especially by farmers.

“We are informing Nigerians early so that they know what to do to address the issues, and we hope that compliance will mitigate the impact of floods and other disasters. So we encourage our citizens to heed the warning because it is real,” he said.

A representative of the World Meteorological Organization, Roland Abah, also stressed that climate change poses a significant threat to development in the region.

He noted that the World Economic Forum identified extreme weather as the top current risk to the global economy in 2024.

Abah noted that “the year 2023 was confirmed by the WMO as the warmest year on record, and the past nine years have been the warmest on record.

“This warming trend has continued from January to March in 2024 and we are all witnessing the dynamics of temperature and humidity parameters in West Africa and the Sahel.”

Abah reported that $8.5 billion was lost in Africa in 2022 due to weather-related disasters, saying: “The State of Climate in Africa Report 2022 revealed that more than 110 million people on the African continent were directly affected by weather , the climate and the water. -related hazards in 2022, causing more than $8.5 billion in economic damage.”