The United Nations is warning that 18 million people in Africa’s Sahel region face severe hunger in the next three months, citing the effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the coronavirus pandemic, climate-induced shocks and rising costs.
The hunger crisis may press increased numbers of people to migrate out of the affected areas, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.
The largest number of people are at risk of severe hunger across the region since 2014, and four countries — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger — are facing “alarming levels”, with nearly 1.7 million people facing emergency levels of food shortages there, according to the UN agency.
