FAO emergencies and resilience

Western and Central Africa

©FAO/Country: Niger

Western and Central Africa continue to face protracted insecurity and political instability, with conflicts in Central Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, the Niger and Nigeria), and persistent armed violence in Central African countries such as in the Central African Republic. The impacts of such challenges are compounded by climate extremes, disease outbreaks and economic crises, including due to the socioeconomic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Extreme poverty in the region has increased and the combined effects of these factors have led to a deterioration of food insecurity and malnutrition, especially in conflict-affected areas. This includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo – still the world’s largest food crisis.

News
News
FAO and WFP early warning report reveals worsening hunger in 13 hotspots; five with immediate risk of starvation
16/06/2025

Sudan, Palestine, South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali remain hotspots of highest concern, and Democratic Republic of the Congo has returned as a hunger hotspot...

News
Acute food insecurity and malnutrition rise for sixth consecutive year in world’s most fragile regions – new report
16/05/2025

In 2024, over 295 million people across 53 countries and territories faced acute hunger—an increase of almost 14 million people compared to 2023, while...

News
Desert locust movements in Northwest Africa raise concern amid spring breeding season
29/04/2025

FAO calls to enhance monitoring and initiate early control measures in affected countries

Publications
Publications
Subregional West Africa: Project Highlights - OSRO/SFW/010/AUS
08/2025

In recent years, the Sahel region, and more specifically the central Sahel, which includes Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, has been facing increasing...

Publications
Cameroon: Emergency Project to Combat Food Crisis (PULCCA)
08/2025

The eastern region of Cameroon is facing a complex crisis characterized by increased insecurity, frequent climate shocks and economic instability.

Publications
Cameroon: Reducing humanitarian needs in the Far North by scaling up anticipatory actions
08/2025

In Cameroon, the Far North region is grappling with a worsening multidimensional crisis – climatic, humanitarian and security-related – that severely...

Multimedia

Rehabilitated water canal restores livelihoods of farmers in rural Hama, Syria

FAO, with the support of OCHA, has conducted rehabilitation works to more than 60 kilometers of irrigation network in Mhardeh, which irrigates 2,670 hectares of land, and restored the livelihoods of more than 2 100 households in over 15 villages. FAO has made the rehabilitation of irrigation canals and facilities one of its top priorities for agriculture, with great benefit for thousands of farmers. As the economic situation in Syria intensifies, restoring self-reliance in food security will be vital for thousands more Syrian farmers who still have to overcome the uphill challenges of cultivating their lands the hard way.

03/08/2022