Nigeria still listed among food-need countries

Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari

The Food and Agriculture Organisation has disclosed the countries that are in urgent need of external assistance for food.

There are 42 such countries presently, according to FAO's quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.

Sadly, Nigeria which under the current administration of Muhammadu Buhari since 2015 promised to develop the agricultural sector, is still among the report’s needy countries.

Compared to the September issue of the same report, Zambia, affected by drought conditions and record-high staple food prices, has been added to the list which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Uganda, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

The report also provides details on floods that followed earlier severe dryness, cutting harvest expectations in East Africa, and adverse weather conditions that caused a steep production decline in Southern Africa.

Unfavorable harvests and significantly high staple food prices in Zimbabwe, set against an economy that has sharply deteriorated, will likely almost double the number of food-insecure people in the country during the first three months of 2020.

While the cereal output of Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries (LIFDCs) in Africa is expected to decline due to adverse weather, those of LIFDCs in Asia is projected to increase, notably in Afghanistan and Syria.