The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that at least 9.2 million Nigerians face a crisis or worse levels of food insecurity this year because of the country’s conflicts in May.
While insecurity is rooted in that herder-farmer conflict, the crisis in northwest Nigeria has spiralled into broader criminality with mass abductions for ransom, cattle theft and banditry.
The rural exodus is a key factor in driving up the cost of food in Africa’s most populous country, hitting its tens of millions of poor.
The government’s statistics bureau says inflation in June was around 17 percent compared with a year earlier. The rise has been fuelled by the fallout from the global pandemic, which has triggered a slump in petroleum demand, badly hitting revenues in oil-producing Nigeria. But within the index lies even worse news: food inflation of 22 percent.
Related
Data source: Africa news