Growth slows as world population nears 8 billion
The global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, less than 1 percent a year, said the United Nations on Monday, with the population forecast to pass the milestone of 8 billion on Nov. 15. India was expected to surpass China as the world's most populous nation next year, with the United States challenged for third place by Nigeria by mid-century.
WTO chooses first woman and African as director general
With a Trump administration objection out of the way, the WTO members selected Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian, as its director general effective March 1. She will take office at a time of challenge for the organization; the world has lost confidence in mulilateral trade agreements as a path …
Hunger halved in strife-torn northeastern Nigeria
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.
In population leapfrog, India to top China, Nigeria to hurdle U.S.
The most populous nation in Africa, Nigeria, with 191 million people today, will easily pass the United States to become the world’s third most populous nation by mid-century, says the UN Population Division in a biennial global population forecast. In a much shorter time span—just seven years—India will become the most populous nation on Earth, displacing China.
Millions at risk of starvation in northeastern Nigeria
A UN official working on humanitarian aid in Africa warns of "a famine unlike any we have seen anywhere" in northeastern Nigeria unless aid is provided immediately, says the Washington Post. "The staggering hunger crisis created by (Boko Haram) insurgents has been largely hidden from view."
Boko Haram has turned Nigeria’s breadbasket into a land of starvation
After two years of a scorched-earth campaign by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram, northeast Nigeria faces a “severe hunger " emergency, says the LA Times. Up to 50,000 children could starve and 250,000 more are dealing with extreme malnutrition, according to UNICEF. And yet before Boko Haram, northeast Nigeria was considered the country’s breadbasket, rich in maize and millet, as well as vegetables.
Drought and displacement put Nigeria in crisis
Nigeria, Africa’s largest and most-populous country, needs help feeding refugees fleeing armed conflict in the northeastern corner of the country, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in a quarterly report on food insecurity around the world.