WFP Says Over 800,000 Nigerians, Sahelian Countries May Resort To Survival Sex, Early Marriage

Lack of money for humanitarian assistance in Nigeria and other Sahel nations may force over 800,000 people in urgent need to engage in survival sex, early marriage, or join non-state armed organizations, according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

The World Food Programme, which launched a large-scale emergency food and nutrition support operation in the Sahel in June, lamented in a statement that a budget shortage meant it will only be able to assist slightly more than half of the 11.6 million people initially targeted.

It said this may leave millions stranded without aid as the lean season sets in and hunger starts to peak, noting that @Mali and Chad will be hit the hardest, with 800,000 people at risk of resorting to desperate measures to cope, including engaging in survival sex, early marriage, or joining non-state armed groups.”

The statement explained that: “WFP’s lean season response works to boost national governments’ efforts in tackling hunger as they grapple with the combined effects of conflict, the climate crisis, and soaring costs of food and fuel.

“WFP had initially targeted 11.6 million women, men and children – out of 19.2 million people in humanitarian need – in Burkina Faso, Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and north-eastern Nigeria from June to September 2023.

“But funding constraints have forced WFP to roll out assistance for just 6.2 million of the most vulnerable people – with a focus on refugees, newly displaced people, malnourished children under 5, pregnant women and breastfeeding women and girls.”

The WFP’s ad hoc Regional Director for Western Africa, Margot Vandervelden, was quoted in the release as saying, “We’re in a tragic situation.” During this year’s lean season, millions of households will not have enough food to last until the next harvest in September, and many will receive little to no aid to get them through the difficult months ahead. To avoid a dramatic slide into catastrophic starvation, we must act now.”

She added that: “We need a twin-track approach to stop hunger in the Sahel – we must address acute hunger through humanitarian assistance while tackling the structural causes of food insecurity by increasing investments in resilient food systems and expanding government social protection programmes.”

WFP lamented that food insecurity has reached a 10-year high in West and Central Africa, affecting 47.2 million people during the June-August lean season – including 45,000 people in Burkina Faso and Mali facing catastrophic hunger according to the March Cadre Harmonisé analysis. Malnutrition rates have also surged, with 16.5 million children under 5 set to be acutely malnourished this year – an 83 per cent rise from the 2015-2022 average.

It stated that conflict remains a key driver of hunger in the region, leading to forced population displacements that have emptied out entire villages and limited communities’ access to land for farming; conflict is also spreading across the region and into coastal countries risking a spread of instability into new and previously stable areas.

In just six months, the number of people fleeing violence in the Central Sahel and seeking refuge in four Gulf of Guinea countries has nearly quadrupled, rising from 30,000 in January to 110,000 people in June.

According to the statement, WFP’s lean season response aims to provide life-saving food and nutrition assistance to families facing acute hunger at a time when food stocks dwindle.

However, proactive investments in prevention and smart longer-term solutions can significantly reduce reliance on such emergency actions. These solutions include resilience-building activities, social protection programmes and anticipatory actions like climate insurance pay-outs.

Climate risk insurance payouts totalling US$15.4 million from the African Risk Capacity (ARC) in 2023 enabled WFP to give cash transfers to 490,000 people in Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and Mali who were affected by drought in 2022. Farmers were able to recover from the effects of droughts because they were able to meet their fundamental necessities, such as purchasing food for their families and providing seeds for the following planting season, thanks to this response.

The statement further revealed that WFP’s integrated resilience programme in the Sahel focuses on participatory watershed planning, land recovery and rehabilitation, and support for smallholder farmers – with links to school meals and nutrition activities.

The programme has shown promising results, with participant households demonstrating increased capacities to withstand shocks and coping better during lean seasons. In Niger, for example, 80 per cent of villages that received WFP resilience support did not require humanitarian assistance in 2022- unlike other villages in the same areas.

This success meant that about half a million people did not need humanitarian food aid thanks to the long-term investments in resilience strengthening. Expanding these activities will be crucial in preventing emergency needs from escalating.

In partnership with UNICEF, WFP is also implementing a social protection programme in Chad, Burkina Faso,  Mali, and Mauritania, contributing to strengthening national systems and supporting millions of people through cash-based transfers and complimentary services. The programme also contributes to strengthening the national capacity to anticipate and respond to climatic and other shocks that lead to humanitarian needs.

WFP said in the statement that US$ 794 million is required to ensure adequate response to the emergency needs across the five Sahel countries over the next six months (July- December 2023).

The United Nations World Food Programme remains the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.