Market monitoring for the Kenya Cash Consortium response to the desert locust invasion and food insecurity, January-March 2021, ASAL Counties of Kenya
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BACKGROUND
The arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) counties are currently experiencing multiple shocks to their livelihoods and food security. While people’s health is threatened by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the approaching agricultural season is endangered by a combination of the desert locust infestation, dry spells and floods that are impacting already vulnerable communities and further increasing food insecurity in the area.
The desert locust infestation has contributed to the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) projection of over 985,000 people in Phase 3 (crisis) and Phase 4 (emergency) in 23 ASAL counties of Kenya between April and July 2021 and the effect of the infestation is expected to continue being felt at community level by farmers, pastoralists and agropastoralists.
At least 155 million people faced crisis levels of food insecurity in 2020 because of conflict, extreme weather events and economic shocks linked in part to COVID-19, an UN-partnered flagship report said on Wednesday.
It’s been five years since hunger levels were this bad across 55 countries under review, according to the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), which noted that 20 million more people went hungry last year than in 2019.
Countries in Africa remained “disproportionally affected”, it said in a release copied to the Ghana News Agency.
It said that conflict pushed almost 100 million people into acute food insecurity, followed by economic shocks (40 million) and weather extremes (16 million).
UNICEF Nigeria Humanitarian Situation Report No. 1: 1 January - 31 March 2021
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Highlights
Increased attacks by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) on military super camps in the north-east increased in Q1 of 2021. Q1 recorded the highest number of attacks by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), including on humanitarian assets and personnel contributing to displacement, increased needs, reduced access in an already shrinking humanitarian space. Against the backdrop of escalating conflict, the figures from the March Cadre Harmonisé (CH) and the Integrated Phase Classification for Acute Malnutrition (IPC-AM) are projecting acute food insecurity and malnutrition rates akin to those in 2016-2017. There is an urgent need to address critical gaps in funding to meet acute needs and to adapt to the uncertain security climate.