The number of hungry people in northeastern Nigeria has dropped by half, to 2.6 million, since mid-year, according to analysis by regional groups, which give credit to improved security and scaled-up humanitarian assistance. Nigeria is one of four nations that face a credible risk of famine in the new year if there is no improvement in underlying conditions.
The analysis by Cadre Harmonisé warns that sustained assistance is needed in Nigeria to prevent a relapse and that more than 3.5 million people could face acute hunger by next August if aid wavers. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said it provided cowpeas, corn, millet, sorghum, vegetable seeds, and fertilizer to a million people to help them through the rainy season of June through September, when food stocks were low.
The FAO said it will undertake a new round of distribution of vegetable seeds, farming kits, fertilizer, and irrigation equipment in three Nigerian states where attacks by Boko Haram rebels have disrupted food production. Now that the fields are dry again, communities are preparing for another planting season. The FAO says the improvements of recent months mark the first time that hunger has declined considerably since the onset of the Boko Haram crisis.