The United Nations humanitarian agency warned on Friday that soaring prices are exacerbating the food crisis in West and Central Africa, where nearly 55 million people will struggle to feed themselves in the coming months.

The number of people facing hunger during the lean season from June to August has quadrupled in the past five years, they said, pointing to double-digit inflation and stagnant local production in addition to the region’s regular conflicts. and other economic challenges have emerged as key drivers of the crisis.

Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Mali are the worst-affected countries, with about 2,600 people in the northern regions of the countries at risk of catastrophic hunger, the World Food Program, Unicef ​​and the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report. . Joint Statement.

“Now is the time to act. We need all partners to step up their efforts… to prevent the situation from getting out of control,” said Margot van der Velden, acting regional director for West Africa at the World Food Programme.

The agencies said malnutrition rates are alarmingly high due to food shortages, with an estimated 16.7 million children under the age of five in West and Central Africa severely malnourished.

The region’s heavy reliance on food imports is exacerbating the food crunch, especially for countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone that are battling high inflation.

Robert Guy, FAO’s subregional coordinator for West Africa, said policies should be put in place to boost and diversify local food production “to combat unprecedented levels of food and nutrition insecurity”.