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Highlights

• In early August 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted WFP Immunities and Privileges to operate in Nigeria.

• There are 4.4 million food insecure people in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states according to the August 2016 Cadre Harmonisé analysis, of which 1.1 million severely food insecure in Borno and Yobe States.

• WFP continued its cross-border operation from Cameroon to Banki to assist 25,000 IDPs.

• As at end August, WFP assisted 86,800 people with cash; 140,600 people with food and 53,400 children aged 6 to 59 months with nutritious food.

Situation Update

• In Nigeria, as well as in the surrounding regions of Niger, Chad and Cameroon, security and humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate as populations flee violence and conflict. This population and host communities are facing severe food insecurity resulting from successive poor harvests due to abandoned crops, minimal cross-border cash crop trade and lost economic opportunities.

• In June, the Government’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reported over 15 newly accessible areas in Borno State with 300,000 additional people in need of immediate food assistance. The Ministry of Health declared a State of Nutrition Emergency in Borno State in June 2016.
  Malnutrition and food insecurity situation in these locations has been referred to as critical. Other urgent needs include shelter, non-food items, access to health care, water, sanitation and hygiene.

• According to the August 2016 Cadre Harmonisé analysis, there are 4.4 million food insecure people in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. Out of these, 1.1 million people are severely food insecure in Borno and Yobe States.

« C'était le 3 janvier 2015, vers 6 h du matin ». Adamu, 16 ans, se souvient comme si c'était hier du jour où il a perdu tout contact avec sa famille. « La ville de Baga était attaquée, c'était la panique générale. On entendait des détonations et des tirs, les gens couraient partout. Etourdi, j'ai fui dans la brousse avec d'autres personnes. Les jours qui ont suivi, j'ai cherché ma famille dans le groupe de rescapés, sans succès. Je me sentais seul au monde, complètement déboussolé. Je n'ai trouvé qu'un de nos anciens voisins qui m'a amené avec lui au camp de Sayam Forage, de l'autre côté de la frontière au Niger ».

Aujourd'hui pourtant, Adamu affiche un large sourire : avec Souleyman, un autre adolescent nigérian, il va finalement retrouver sa famille après plus d'une année d'angoisse et de séparation. « Tous ces mois sans savoir où se trouvaient mes parents et mes frères ont été très difficiles. Malgré les paroles encourageantes de mon tuteur, vu la violence dans laquelle nous nous sommes séparés, je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de craindre le pire ».

L'inaccessibilité de certaines localités et les déplacements fréquents des populations à cause des attaques dans cette région du Lac Tchad n'ont pas facilité les recherches de la famille d'Adamu. Les équipes de la Croix-Rouge du Nigeria en charge des activités de rétablissement des liens familiaux ont visité une multitude de sites de déplacés avant de localiser ses parent près de la ville de Maiduguri.

« Il y a quelques semaines, un volontaire de la Croix-Rouge est venu me dire qu'on avait retrouvé mes parents : j'étais fou de joie ! En écoutant le message Croix-Rouge envoyé par ma grande sœur, j'ai eu l'impression d'avoir ma famille devant moi. Et quand le réseau téléphonique s'est amélioré, j'ai même pu leur parler ! Aujourd'hui, je n'attends qu'une chose : les revoir ».

Souleyman partage également sa joie : après deux ans de séparation, le jeune de 15 ans va retrouver son père. Originaire de Damassak au Nigeria, Souleyman avait quitté la ville à l'annonce d'une attaque : «Ma mère m'avait dit de partir avec d'autres garçons. Je ne voulais pas la laisser seule, mais elle avait insisté ». Le 21 novembre 2014, au lendemain de son départ, la ville a effectivement été attaquée par des hommes armés. Parmi les victimes des combats se trouvait la mère de Souleyman.

« J'ai appris le décès de ma mère par des personnes qui avaient réussi à fuir la ville assiégée. Je voulais retrouver mon père, mais je n'avais plus de nouvelles depuis son départ pour Maiduguri après son divorce ». Les mois passent, et Souleyman arrive finalement à Diffa au Niger, où il est placé avec d'autres enfants non accompagnés dans une famille d'accueil.

Après des recherches à Maiduguri et dans les environs, l'oncle de l'enfant, puis son père sont localisés par la Croix-Rouge du Nigeria en mai 2016. La gorge serrée par l'émotion, Souleyman se souvient du premier contact téléphonique : «C'était la première fois que j'entendais la voix de mon père depuis plusieurs années. Depuis cet échange, je sais que je ne suis plus seul ».

Le CICR et la Croix-Rouge du Nigeria ont facilité les contacts entre Souleyman et son père, le temps que le jeune garçon finisse l'année scolaire. « L'école, c'est très important pour moi. Je voulais vraiment finir l'année scolaire, même si cela retardait mon retour auprès de mon père. »

16 September 2016

This year, WFP introduced mobile-phone based cash assistance for the first time in Cameroon. Cash transfers, which replace monthly food rations, provide the most vulnerable refugees and displaced Cameroonian families with freedom to buy the products of their choice, to meet their most urgent food needs. For some, it is not only a means of providing food for the family, but also an opportunity to engage in income generating activities.

MORA, Far North region – Tens of thousands of displaced families have flocked in the town of Mora, near the Nigerian frontier, to escape Boko haram insurgency, which has ravaged villages along the border for over two years now. Homes destroyed and families torn apart, many women are left alone to care for the household as their husbands have been killed in attacks or deserted the family to find work elsewhere. In Mora, WFP cash assistance programmes, which exclusively target single women households, provide some relief in the turmoil of chaos.

Fadi has been displaced in Mora for two years. As a sole career for 10 children, the main challenge is to put food on the table every day. “I lost my work and all my property as Boko Haram burned down the house we lived in”, she explains. “My husband is no longer with us, so how will I alone provide for the children?"

Since May this year, she has received 10,000 FCFA (about US$18) every month, sent by WFP through her mobile phone, and which she can spend in selected local shops. The cash transfers give her a sense of normality, as she can go to the local market to buy meat, canned fish, rice, milk for the children, and other products to prepare the meals of her preference. She can save some of the money on her phone, or spend it all at once – it is up to her to choose.

Meanwhile in eastern Cameroon, three refugee women from the Central African Republic have profited from the increased market demand that the cash transfer programs brings, to start up a small shop where they sell cassava flour, a locally preferred staple food. The women are amongst 30 local traders in the Gado refugee camp, working with WFP to provide sufficient availability of diversified food products.

The cassava flour is highly appreciated amongst the local communities, frequently used by women in their daily cooking traditions. “We have more than 150 people come in to the shop every day”, says Fatosaleh, the shop founder. In a month, the sales can reach over 14 tons of cassava flower to a price of 11 million FCFA.

The women purchase their products in nearby market, but lately, prices have gone up as the rainy season is under way and local transporters have difficulties to reach their destinations. Their earnings have decreased in the past weeks.

But Fatosaleh stays positive – “as long as I have my business, I can make a living here in Cameroon and I hope the market will return to our favor once the rains have passed”, she explains, “We know it is not yet safe to return to our village in CAR and we cannot go home. But here in Cameroon we have found some peace.”

Cameroon is home to over 190,000 internally displaced persons and 340,000 refugees, both from Nigeria and the Central African Republic, who have fled conflict and escalating violence spilling across borders. Dispersed in camps, temporary settlements or amongst local people in poor communities, the relief assistance they receive from the humanitarian community is often all they have to survive.

WFP and partners are helping those most in need with food and nutrition support activities to address food insecurity and high rates of malnutrition amongst young children and mothers. In 2016, the aim is to assist 500,000 people in Cameroon, including refugees, IDPs, and the most food insecure local communities.

WFP started distributing cash to some families in mid-March, and plans to extend assistance to areas where food is available and markets are functioning, to allow people to buy the food that they need, while also supporting the local economy. While aiming to expand the programme, WFP will take more efforts to support women’s engagement in market activities, considering that cultural barriers often hinder their participation.

Written by Sofia Engdahl, WFP Cameroon. All photos: WFP/Sofia Engdahl

Highlights

• With renewed access to the Logone and Chari department in the Extreme North, bordering both Nigeria and Chad, and hosting 60% of the IDP population in Cameroon, UNICEF has received additional funds to address some of the Child Protection and Education needs.

• The crisis in the East region of Cameroon has been largely forgotten, particularly with regards to child protection needs.
  Additionally, there are currently 84,585 refugee children from CAR who do not have access to education (UNHCR).

• Since the beginning of the year, 32,209 children under five with severe acute malnutrition have been admitted for therapeutic care, among which 58% are children in the Far North region and 33% in the North region.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

Cameroon continues to face three concurrent and often overlapping humanitarian crises, including inadequate nutrition and internal displacement in the North and Far North, and the continued presence of refugees from Central African Republic in the East and Adamawa regions, and from Nigeria in the Far North.

In the Far North region, 181,215 people, 69% of whom are children less than 18 years (IOM, DTM August 2016), have been internally displaced by the ongoing conflict with Boko Haram. Among over 66,000 refugees from Nigeria that have come across the border, 57,835 of the refugees currently live in Minawao camp.

As of August 2016, 259,145 refugees from CAR are living in sites and host communities throughout the East and Adamawa regions.

The refugees and displaced are coming into host communities with very limited resources and regions that are already facing an ongoing nutrition crisis as part of the Sahel. An estimated 59,341 children under 5 in Cameroon are expected to suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in 2016 as a result of this ongoing crisis.

16 September 2016 – Wrapping up a four-day mission in Niger, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Africa’s Sahel region has called on the international community to show increased support for the people of Diffa and the rest of the Lake Chad Basin who have been displaced from their homes amid the violence of Boko Haram’s insurgency.

“Despite difficult living conditions, lack of sustainable income and basic means of daily subsistence, thousands of families continue to care for those who have even less,” said the Assistant-Secretary-General and the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Toby Lanzer, in a press release issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“People in the Lake Chad region provide us an example of humanity that should be an inspiration for us all,” he added.

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria has mutated into a vast regional humanitarian crisis involving its three Lake Chad Basin neighbours – Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Insecurity has driven more than 187,000 Nigerians across the border, but incursions by Boko Haram into the surrounding countries have also generated growing numbers of internally displaced people.

Mr. Lanzer visited the Diffa region of Niger, where violence at the hands of Boko Haram has pushed hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, disrupted trade and livelihoods and heightened malnutrition and food insecurity. He was accompanied by Niger’s Minister in charge of humanitarian action, Laouan Magagi.

Over 280,000 people have been forced from their homes in Nigeria and within the Diffa region of Niger due to Boko Haram raids and attacks on villages, the press release said. Two of every three displaced people have had to move more than once, each time testing their resilience and further deepening their suffering.

Furthermore, the press release said, entire villages have been emptied of their residents; a large proportion of fields have not been tilled; and, access to basic social services such as water, health and education has been further restricted. Some 400,000 people need emergency food assistance. Malnutrition is at an extremely high level, with the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate, at 17 per cent, exceeding the emergency threshold.

Humanitarian organizations have scaled up their operations during the lean season which stretches from June to September. Food assistance reached more than 65 per cent of the 400,000 people targeted, up from 41 per cent in May.

OCHA said, however, that insecurity and lack of funding are limiting humanitarian teams’ ability to reach the most in need. The humanitarian response in Diffa is only 38 per cent funded, with $28 million of $73 million secured. About 50 per cent of food needs for the rest of the year will not be covered if additional funding is not received.

“[Some] $44 million are needed to respond to an overwhelming situation and deep suffering,” the Humanitarian Coordinator in Niger, Fodé Ndiaye, said, citing an event to be held on 23 September in New York in the margins of the General Assembly.

He hoped that this event will mobilize the attention of the international community and pave the way to ending violence and misery across the region. “This requires creating youth and women’s employment, creating socio-economic opportunities, and strengthening social cohesion,” he said.

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Friday 9/16/2016 - 18:35 GMT

Nigeria opened negotiations with Boko Haram over the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls last year, but the talks were derailed due to a split in the extremist group, a minister said Friday.

Speaking at a press conference in the capital Abuja, information minister Lai Mohammed said the Department of State Services (DSS) started negotiations with the Islamists in July 2015.

In exchange for the girls, who were kidnapped in April 2014 from a school in the remote northeastern town of Chibok, Boko Haram demanded the release of some of its fighters.

Out of the 276 girls kidnapped, scores escaped in the hours after the kidnapping, while another was rescued earlier this year.

Mohammed said that by August 2015 the government was close to clinching the swap deal when Boko Haram issued a new set of demands.

"This development stalled what would have been the first release process of the Chibok girls," Mohammed said.

New talks that began in November were eclipsed by a leadership struggle happening in Boko Haram at the time.

The first signs of a rift appeared after longtime chief Abubakar Shekau pledged allegiance to IS in March 2015 and changed Boko Haram's name to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

By August this year, Abu Musab al-Barnawi -- the son of Boko Haram's founder Mohammed Yusuf -- was appointed head of the group, with recent reports of clashes between rival factions in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, near Lake Chad.

Mohammed said Nigeria was committed to rescuing the remaining 218 Chibok girls still held captive by Boko Haram, who have killed at least 20,000 people in northeast Nigeria in a wave of raids, suicide attacks and bombings since 2009.

"In spite of the current division amongst members of the terrorist group, which has seriously affected efforts to release the girls, renewed efforts have commenced using our trusted assets and facilitators," Mohammed said.

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© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

107.2 M required for 2016
24.8 M contributions received, representing 23% of requirements
82.4 M funding gap for the Nigeria Situation

**TRUST FUND FOR STABILITY AND ADDRESSING ROOT CAUSES OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION AND DISPLACED PERSONS IN AFRICA

The European Union and Africa enjoy a long-standing and comprehensive partnership, which has deepened and diversified over decades and in particular since the first Africa-EU Summit in 2000. The Valletta Summit in November 2015 complemented already existing processes with African Countries, focusing on different aspects of migration.

• Through its development cooperation, the European Union has assisted African countries in a number of different sectors, such as governance, sustainable agriculture, infrastructure, energy, health, education, peace, security, trade economic growth and job creation and migration.

• The European Union is a long-standing donor to Africa and is also the world’s largest donor giving more than half of Official Development Assistance (ODA) worldwide.

• Out of European Union collective overall Official Development Assistance (ODA), which amounted to €68 billion in 2015, the European Union and its Member States have already invested in tackling the root causes of migration with over €20 billion of ODA to Africa every year.

• Between 2014-2020, the European Commission’s ODA allocations for Africa will amount to over €31 billion, making Africa the main recipient of ODA.

THE AIM OF THE EU EMERGENCY TRUST FUND FOR AFRICA

The EU Emergency Trust Fund was established at the Valletta Summit on 12 November 2015 to address the migration crises in the region of Sahel/Lake Chad, Horn of Africa and North Africa encompassing a total of 23 countries.

The Trust Fund is aimed at supporting all aspects of stability and to contribute to better migration management as well as addressing the root causes of destabilization, forced displacement and irregular migration. It will do so by promoting resilience, economic and equal opportunities, security and development and addressing human rights’ abuses. The Trust Fund is meant to complement existing EU instruments, national and regional frameworks, and bilateral programs of EU Member States by providing a swift and flexible answer to migration-related challenges.

The initial resources allocated to the Trust Fund for Africa amount to €1.88 billion – with €1.8 billion from different financial instruments under the EU budget and the European Development Fund, and €81.8 million from Member States contributions.

In the context of the Migration Partnership Framework proposed by the European Commission, it further proposes to strengthen the Trust Fund for Africa by €0.5 billion from the European Development Fund (EDF) reserve. 59 Projects worth around €900 million have already been approved to fund specific programmes in favour of the Sahel and Lake Chad regions, as well as the Horn of Africa.

The Trust Fund benefits a wide range of African countries that encompass the major migration routes to Europe.
These countries are among the most fragile and affected by the migration crisis and will draw the greatest benefit from EU assistance. Eligible countries are:

• Sahel region and Lake Chad: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, the Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal.

• Horn of Africa: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

• North of Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

Neighbouring countries of the eligible countries may benefit, on a case by case basis, from Trust Fund projects with a regional dimension in order to address regional migration flows and related cross- border challenges.

The main beneficiaries are refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees and the local communities hosting them, and other vulnerable or marginalised populations such as victims of human trafficking and smuggled migrants, youth, women and children. Civil society actors such as community or women’s organisations will also be supported.

“Migration is a positive thing for the world, but we need to do it in a regulated way. It is a global, complex phenomenon, it concerns the EU as much as countries of transit or origin ...Our approach is a new one, based on a win-win partnership.” Federica Mogherini, High Representative/Vice-President of the European Commission, Strasbourg – 7 June 2016 The European Union introduced a new Migration Partnership Framework in June 2016 that fully integrates migration in the European Union’s foreign policy. This is a key element of the European Union Global Strategy.

This new approach rethinks how all concerned actors – the European Union’s Member States, the EU institutions, and third countries – work together to better manage migration flows and strive for well-managed migration. It establishes a results-oriented approach to mobilise and focus all EU and Member States’ tools and resources for that purpose. Our duty is to give people the chance and the means for a safe and decent life, fight smuggling and prevent death at seas. And we can only do it together.

The objective is saving lives and breaking the business model of smugglers, preventing illegal migration and enhance cooperation on returns and readmission of irregular migrants, as well as stepping up investments in partner countries.

The EU will put into place and swiftly implement this framework starting with a number of priority countries of origin and transit – Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Senegal, and Ethiopia.

Niamey, Niger | AFP | Friday 9/16/2016 - 23:14 GMT

Thirty-eight Boko Haram Islamist fighters have been killed during military search operations carried out by Niger and Chad troops in the Diffa region of southeast Niger this week, an official said Friday.

Two soldiers were lightly wounded in the action and "on the enemy side; 38 terrorists killed," Niger defence ministry spokesman Moustapha Ledru said on state television.

Substantial quantities of weapons and munitions were also seized, Colonel Ledru added.

The joint army operations took place between Monday and Wednesday around the villages of Gueskerou and Toumour in southeastern Niger, he added.

According to villagers and NGO workers in Gueskerou, 30 kilometres from Diffa, Boko Haram elements attacked the town on Wednesday night, without killing anyone.

"The attack nonetheless caused a psychosis in the population" and "the assailants torched houses and stole food and medicines after pillaging shops and a pharmacy," an NGO official told AFP.

Boko Haram's seven-year insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead in Nigeria and border areas of neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, and made more than 2.6 million homeless.

Attacks in Niger's Diffa region began in February 2015.

In late July this year a multinational force, drawn from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, was formed to tackle the Islamic insurgents and clear them out of towns and villages.

bh/eak/pg/aph/tm

© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

Niamey, Niger | AFP | vendredi 16/09/2016 - 21:57 GMT

Trente-huit membres de Boko Haram ont été tués et deux soldats ont été blessés, au cours "d'opérations de ratissage" menées cette semaine par les militaires du Niger et du Tchad, dans la région de Diffa (sud-est nigérien), a annoncé vendredi l'armée nigérienne. 

"Le bilan global provisoire est le suivant: côté amis, deux (soldats) blessés légers. Côté ennemis: 38 terroristes tués", a déclaré à la télévision d'Etat le porte-parole du ministère nigérien de la Défense, le colonel Moustapha Ledru. 

"D'importantes quantités d'armes et de munitions" appartenant aux insurgés ont été également saisies, a souligné le colonel Ledru. 

Les armées nigérienne et tchadienne ont lancé des "opérations de ratissage" après "les attaques" de Boko Haram dans les zones "de Toumour et Gueskérou les 12 et 14 septembre", a-t-il expliqué.

Le communiqué ne fournit aucun détail sur l'attaque de Gueskérou survenue mercredi. 

Mais d'après des villageois et des ONG locales, des éléments de Boko Haram ont "attaqué mercredi la nuit Gueskerou", un village située à une trentaine de kilomètres de la ville de Diffa "sans faire de victime". 

"L'attaque néanmoins a semé la psychose au sein de la population" et "les assaillants ont incendié des habitations et emporté des vivres et des médicaments après avoir pillé des magasins et une pharmacie", a affirmé à l'AFP le responsable d'une ONG nigérienne. 

Le 12 septembre, cinq militaires nigériens ont été tués et six autres blessés dans une embuscade tendue par des éléments de Boko Haram, non loin de Toumour, à 75 km au nord de la ville de Diffa. 

Selon Niamey, 30 combattants de Boko Haram ont été également tués et deux autres capturés au cours "d'une opération de ratissage" lancée juste après par les militaires nigériens et tchadiens.

Depuis février 2015, Boko Haram mène des attaques autour de Diffa, région frontalière du nord-est du Nigeria, fief des insurgés islamistes. 

Fin juillet 2016, la Force multinationale mixte (Nigeria, Tchad, Niger, Cameroun), et notamment le Tchad, avait engagé des moyens importants et avait indiqué avoir repris aux insurgés islamistes les localités stratégiques nigérianes de Doutchi et Damasack, proches du Niger. bh/eak/pg

© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

Key Messages

• The average to good development of crops across the country increases the chance of above average production as result of rains greater than the ten year average, and the availability of agricultural inputs. However, the loss of agricultural land as a result of flooding will negatively affect levels of agricultural production, especially in the riverine regions of Gao, Tombouctou and Mopti.

• Significant damage to housing, equipment, livestock and crops was recorded from July to September as a result of rainfall-related flooding. As more flooding is expected in the Niger River Valley, this may weaken livelihoods of affected households. Poor households are experiencing difficulties to adequately meet their food and non-food needs and are therefore in Stressed (IPC Phase 2).

• The agropastoral lean season is almost complete as a result of the availability of green crops, livestock products (milk, butter) and average incomes from regular activities. Grain prices lower than the five year average in addition to these factors is allowing the majority of households to access food, placing them in Minimal (IPC Phase 1).

• The food security situation in Gourma de Gao, Tombouctou and in the Goudam lake region is improving as a result of the availability of green crops, animal products, gathered wild foods, and food aid from the government and humanitarian organizations, which have limited negative coping strategies. The situation is expected to improve from Stressed (IPC Phase 2) to Minimal (IPC Phase 1) with the new harvest in October.

Large-scale food security crises to continue in South Sudan and Yemen

Key Messages

In conflict-affected South Sudan, Emergency (IPC Phase 4) acute food insecurity is widespread in parts of Greater Upper Nile (GUN) and Greater Bahr el Ghazal as households face significant food consumption gaps, high levels of malnutrition, and elevated risk of mortality. In Northern Bahr el Ghazal, some households face an extreme lack of food and are in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). While harvests starting in October should slightly improve food security, severe disruptions to livelihoods, exacerbated by continued conflict, are likely to limit improvements.

Many areas of Ethiopia worst affected by El Niño-related drought in 2015 will continue to be in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) through at least September, with more than 10 million people in need of continued humanitarian assistance. Meher harvests starting in October should improve household food access and lead to improvements in food security. However, parts of SNNPR and central and eastern Oromia are drier than normal, leading to prospects for below-average production in some areas.

In Jebel Marra and SPLM-N controlled areas in South Kordofan and Blue Nile in Sudan, conflict, displacement, and limitations on movement have disrupted access to food, income, markets, and humanitarian assistance, resulting in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes. El Niño-driven drought during the 2015 production season has likewise reduced access to food and income for poor households, in parts of North Darfur, North Kordofan, and Kassala, leading to Crisis (IPC Phase 3) food insecurity.

A major food security crisis is expected to continue in Yemen, as conflict continues to displace households, disrupt markets, and result in above-average food prices. An estimated seven to 10 million people require humanitarian assistance and are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3 or 3!) or Emergency (IPC Phase 4). Food security outcomes are expected to be worst in Ta’izz Governorate, and approximately 2.7 million people remain displaced nationwide.

Below-average rainfall during the October to December rainy seasons in southern and southeastern Ethiopia, northern and northeastern Kenya, and central and southern Somalia is likely to lead to below-average crop production and limited livestock productivity in agro-pastoral and pastoral areas. As a result, a deterioration in food security is likely in these areas between October 2016 and January 2017.

PROJECTED FOOD ASSISTANCE NEEDS FOR MARCH 2017

This brief summarizes FEWS NET’s most forward-looking analysis of projected emergency food assistance needs in FEWS NET coverage countries. The projected size of each country’s acutely food insecure population is compared to last year and the recent five-year average. Countries where external emergency food assistance needs are anticipated are identified. Projected lean season months highlighted in red indicate either an early start or an extension to the typical lean season. Additional information is provided for countries with large food insecure populations, an expectation of high severity, or where other key issues warrant additional discussion.

• The real impact of Boko Haram’s reign of terror is emerging as the IRC gains more access to affected areas. The clearing of Boko Haram from these areas was just the first step in a long journey for the people who have been trapped for nearly seven years;

• 184 children will die each day in northeastern Nigeria in 2016 due to causes related to acute malnutrition, according to the UN;

• Despite real security risks, the International Rescue Committee is significantly scaling up its humanitarian response to our largest complex emergency of the moment;

• It is time for the Government of Nigeria and the international community to acknowledge the scale of the humanitarian emergency and put resources in place to address this chronically underfunded crisis - before it is too late;

• The security and infrastructure is not yet in place for recovery, rehabilitation, and returns in Borno state. The gaps between funding and needs will only grow as new areas become accessible over the next year.

Maiduguri, September 15, 2016— The Northeast of Nigeria is teetering on the brink of famine as 5 million people are in urgent need of food assistance, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said today. All actors, including the international community, the Nigerian government, and the UN should acknowledge the scale and address the humanitarian crisis and shift away from a perspective of large scale recovery and returns in nearly all of Borno state. The IRC reclassified the emergency to its highest levels and is significantly scaling up its response, both in scope and in reach, to save the lives of those caught in the middle of Boko Haram’s war.

The numbers are staggering and IRC medical teams on the ground are reporting incredibly high levels of admissions with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). Available evidence indicates that a food security Emergency (IPC Phase 4) is occurring for more than 1 million people in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states, with the possibility of Famine (IPC Phase 5) conditions in particularly affected areas. According to OCHA 65,000 people are already in Phase 5 in Borno and Yobe States. Additionally, 3.3 million are in Phase 3 (crisis) and at high risk if not reached soon.

These numbers are likely a very conservative estimate of the reality on the ground, as more areas open up and we gain access to areas previously controlled by Boko Haram. We are seeing many women and children each day with acute malnutrition which is often coupled with complications such as malaria, tuberculosis, and other life-threatening illnesses. Witnessing this need inside Maiduguri only confirms the urgency with which we need to get things moving at scale in other, previously unreachable areas.
Sarah Ndikumana, Nigeria country director at the International Rescue Committee

Since 2012, the Boko Haram insurgency has crippled northeastern Nigeria. Over 23,000 civilians have lost their lives and thousands of women and girls have been abducted and forced into sexual slavery. Borno State has been particularly affected, with all 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) falling under Boko Haram control at one point. Of the 2.2 million people forced from their homes across the region, over half (1.8 million) are in Borno.

To make matters worse, the Nigerian economy is in free fall and the Naria to USD rate continues to plummet daily. Inflation is having a real impact, as the risk of ongoing recruitments into Boko Haram is high when there are very limited options for people in the northeast – no school for children, no livelihoods, no food.

The Humanitarian Needs Overview compiled by OCHA in November 2015 estimated that there are 4.2 million people in need in Borno. Of the 7 million in need across Northeastern Nigeria, 3 million remained trapped in inaccessible areas at the beginning of 2016. In recent months, advances by the Nigerian Army and the Multinational Joint Task Force have led to improved access to some areas in Borno, revealing significant humanitarian needs.

While data on the affected population is limited, we know they have had little access to basic health, water and sanitation services, and there are high levels of protection concerns, including violence against women and girls. Insufficient services in accessible areas continue to be overwhelmed as more people flee towards safety. Emerging information from the UN shows that 184 (growing from 134 in July 2016) children will die each day, adults are coming in with Severe Acute Malnutrition, and this situation is only likely to worsen in the months to come as more people become accessible who have been cut off from any assistance for years; they will have the same, if not worse, malnutrition and food access issues.

Over the past three years, many health care facilities in the northeast have been abandoned, destroyed, or remain inaccessible due to security concerns. Trade routes have been cut off, and farmers have been unable to plant their fields. The result is a health and nutrition crisis of a staggering scale. Because there is very little opportunity to work through existing structures, the IRC has deployed mobile outreach teams which will provide urgently needed nutrition and primary health care services to populations that cannot access facilities. This is in addition to a basic scale up in health and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene services, food security, as well as women's protection and empowerment, and child protection and education.

What is most upsetting is that this looming famine is entirely man-made. We are seeing countless children under 5 on the verge of death because they were given no other option than to be caught in the middle of this war. The international community simply cannot wait until it is too late to respond to one of the biggest and most under-funded crises in the world.
Sarah Ndikumana, Nigeria country director at the International Rescue Committee