Why Nigeria, 44 Other Countries Will Continue To Need External Assistance For Food-FAO

…..As Global Food Prices Soar To Six-Year High

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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation has announced that Nigeria and other 44 countries would continue to need external assistance for food as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in terms of income losses, drives the levels of global food insecurity.

According to a benchmark United Nations report released on Thursday, the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated and intensified the already fragile conditions caused by conflicts, pests and weather shocks, including recent hurricanes in Central America and floods in Africa.

Some of the 45 countries in need of external assistance for food are Nigeria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

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Other countries include; Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The report shows a sharp increase in food commodity prices to the highest level in nearly six years, as the food price index averaged 105.0 points in November.

This represents a 3.9 per cent increase from what it was in October and 6.5 percent higher than its value in 2019.

It said, “The monthly increase was the sharpest since July 2012, putting the index at its highest level since December 2014.”

The FAO Food Price Index which tracks changes in the international prices of the most globally traded food commodities shows that vegetable Oil Price Index gained 14.5 per cent in the month, led by an ongoing rally in palm oil prices linked to sharp contractions in world inventory levels

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Other commodities such as Meat Price Index rose 0.9 percent from October, but it is still 13.7 percent below its value a year ago.

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