By John Okeke
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has expressed fears of an increase in the number of food scarcity spreading fast to the region orchastrated by Russia and Ukraine War.
Speaking in Abuja at the Fifth Legislature of the 2022 First Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, the ECOWAS Commissioner of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Sekou Sangare said that the direct effect of the Ukrainian crisis , has in reality, worsened food insecurity during the current lean season with more than 20 percent of the population of the region to be affected if nothing is done.
“The war between Ukraine and Russia, which started at the end of February 2022, has had aggravating effects on the difficult food and nutritional situation in all countries of the Region.
“It has aggravated the grain deficit in the region with, in particular, the disruption of the food supply chain, the amplification of the rise in food crisis and the price of fertilizers, of which the two countries in conflict are major suppliers on the international markets and also suppliers of wheat, maize, edible oils and fertilizers for the majority of ECOWAS member countries.
“Compared to the 2021 lean season, the rate of severe food insecurity, which Corresponds to the crisis to worst phases, increased from 27.1 million to 38.2 million people from June 2021 to June 2022.
“That means an increase of 41 percent in one year; during the minimum phase of the food crisis with only one meal a day, the rate goes from 61.1 million to 83 million people or 24 percent during the same period, he explained”
The ECOWAS Commissioner noted that since 2018, efficiency and accountability have been improved in the agricultural sector at the regional level through the strengthening of the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) Monitoring and Evaluation System.
In terms of mobilizing resources from technical and financial partners, Sangare revealed that the volume of external funding in grants between 2018 and 2022 has increased sharply with a cumulative total of new funding acquired of USD 146, 358, 449 for the regional components of approved projects.
He added that the average resource mobilization capacity in the agricultural sector for regional financing was around USD 30 million per year over the period.
