inBUSINESS Issue 15

Africa Conflict and Crisis:
The Ticking Time Bomb in Nigeria
‘Alarming’ levels of malnutrition and famine-like conditions in north-east Nigeria. Credit:
UN Photo
By Cheick Ba on 27/07/2017
to 2 million people have fled their homes,
The conflict between Nigeria’s armed including 200 000 who sought safety in
forces and Boko Haram has created a neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
man-made famine in the country, and
The violence was the first thing Nigerians
experts stipulate that it will only get feared for their lives. Now they fear famine.
worse.
Northeast Nigeria is inching closer than
ever to mass starvation. The food crisis is
MAIDUGURI CITY, NIGERIA: In the dusty getting alarmingly worse, with food security
arid town of Dikwa, tens of thousands of experts predicting it to deteriorate even
Nigerians queue for hours in sweltering 40 further.
degree heat for water. Fatuma is one of 100 Experts forecast a rise in the number of
000 people displaced in the Borno State people facing crisis, emergency and famine
town, the epicentre of Nigeria’s conflict. She conditions from 4.7 million to 5.2 million
sifts through remnants of food aid seeds, in northeast Nigeria. This includes 50 000
drying them out to prepare them to eat. Food people likely to be affected by ‘famine-like’
is a scarcity here. Fatuma used to live on conditions, according to the latest United
three meals a day. Today she is happy if aid Nations Global Early Warning report.
agencies can provide her with a single meal. Declaring famine has serious implications
Dikwa’s food crisis is mirrored throughout for countries to step up and take action. It
the conflict-stricken northeast where the rings international alarm bells. But lack of
armed group, Boko Haram, has been brutally access to some communities caught up in
fighting to enforce strict Islamic Sharia law Nigeria’s conflict means the exact number
since 2009.
of people dying of hunger is impossible to
The Nigerian government launched a confirm. Regardless, the threat of famine is
military operation in 2015 to flush the jihadist upon the country.
group out. An estimated 20 000 people
Armed conflict and violence are driving this
have been killed due to the violence. Close food crisis. Insecurity is preventing people
from farming in many areas, and restricting
access to local markets. This is depleting
grain stocks and pushing food prices beyond
people’s reach. It is having devastating
consequences for affected families, including
450 000 acutely malnourished children.
The May to August lean season is just
past in Nigeria. This is a period when food
production is traditionally low and families
rely on what they have stockpiled from more
plentiful times. With many farmers unable
to cultivate their land for up to three years
already, families have little reserves to draw
from.
Inflation caused by currency depreciation
is compounding the situation further. Conflict
areas are experiencing prices about 150%
higher than in 2015, according to the United
Nations.
My organisation, the Norwegian Refugee
Council, was forced to reduce the food
basket we provide to families this month in
order to make up for the increased price of
rice beans and millet. It is a heart-breaking
decision to make, but the alternative is to
feed fewer people.
Despite the worsening food crisis, donor
countries have only contributed 28% of the
money needed to provide the most basic
humanitarian assistance this year. More
visible crises like the war in Syria and Iraq
garner so much international attention, there
is less space for countries like Nigeria to get
the same attention. As a result, donor dollars
go elsewhere.
But while providing people with food
saves lives, it is only a short-term solution.
The crisis will only end when the conflict has
been resolved, and communities can safely
return to their land to rebuild their lives.
This is a man-made conflict that needs a
man-made solution.
• Cheick Ba is the Norwegian Refugee
Council country director in Nigeria who
has worked in the humanitarian sector for
more than 20 years, including in Angola,
Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. (IPS)
www.inbusiness.co.bw | Issue 15 | 2017 13