. But when armed assailants killed her neighbours one night, she and her three co-wives ditched careful plans to sell their livestock before fleeing.'The region hosts millions of refugees, and millions of people are forcibly displaced in blockaded areas. This is a humanitarian crisis'- smashing livelihoods and sparking massive population displacements - is one explanation for sharply rising food insecurity in the region, but not the only one.
A toxic mix of sometimes interlinked factors is driving the sharp uptick. Conflict and climate change in the Sahel are uprooting people and fueling competition over scarce resources.are pushing up poverty and prices. Economic sanctions and border closures - along with shrinking humanitarian aid - are limiting desperately needed food assistance.
"Millions of people are really surviving on external assistance," says van der Velden, who visited the cut-off town of Djibo, in northern Burkina Faso - where WFP delivers food by air."It's a daily job to continue accessing these places. But in most of these blockaded areas and refugee camps, there's nothing else."
Funds are drying up in Chad as well, where WFP hopes to support 2.5 million hungry people this year. Among them: over 1 million refugees who fled war-torn Sudan, as well as Nigeria, Cameroon and Central Africa Republic. In eastern Chad for example, WFP has teamed up with community farmers and other partners to restore many thousands of hectares of degraded land, in an area on the frontlines of desertification and climate change. Families are now growing tomatoes, peppers and onions for home consumption and sale - earning income they can use for other investments.There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.