UN says 5.6 million people do not have enough food in Cameroon, Nigeria Niger and Chad

The deputy spokesman of the UN, Farhan Haq, said in a press briefing on Monday, March 7, 2016 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, that more than 5.6 million people do not have enough food in parts of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger affected by deadly Boko Haram attacks. 

The UN top diplomat noted that "the prevalence of stunting among displaced reached 49% in Niger and 47% in Chad -the highest rate in West and Central Africa. While rapid assessments recently conducted in the Lake Chad Basin region showed underweight rate as high as 30%. "

Farhan Haq revealed that the low rainfall of the last rainy season and Boko Haram mines have also contributed to farmers not being able to cultivate. The UN top official said, the Boko Haram crisis was putting pressure on the World Food Programme (WFP) to meet the growing food insecurity, malnutrition and persistent movements of population in the Lake Chad Basin.

Farhan Haq added that the UN will "increase its food aid to support nearly 750,000 people against 600,000 beneficiaries last year.”