ReliefWeb

Famine may be ongoing in inaccessible areas of the northeast

KEY MESSAGES

• Borno State remains the center of on-going conflict involving Boko Haram groups. There are 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in the state and several areas remain inaccessible due to military operations. Many LGAs are in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) acute food insecurity and the risk of Famine (IPC Phase 5) in inaccessible areas will remain high over the coming year. Several IDP concentrations are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3!) where assistance is likely to continue preventing Famine, but sustained humanitarian access is critical.

• Conflict and displacement are also continuing to impact food security outcomes in Adamawa and Yobe States. Madagali in Adamawa and Gujba and Gulani in Yobe are LGAs close to the Sambisa forest where households have been unable to engage in crop production and where there is limited access for humanitarian actors. In these LGAs, households continue to face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) acute food insecurity, while other less affected LGAs in Northern Adamawa and rural Yobe will remain in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) through May 2017.

• At the national level, average rainfall levels and an increase in the area planted during the 2016 cultivation season led to average to above-average main harvests across most of the country. Harvests between October and January are allowing household and market stocks to recover and prices decline. Despite seasonal price reductions, staple food prices remain significantly above last year and five-year average levels due to inflation and devaluation of the Naira.