Deteriorating nutritional status in blockaded and limited access areas

Although the population reached by food assistance decreased in July and August due to logistical and security constraints, it contributes to ensuring the population's survival, particularly in Djibo municipality, where Emergency! (IPC Phase 4 !)  acute food insecurity persists until September. Poor households and IDPs continue to make abnormal use of foraged foods. Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes also persist in Arbinda, Kelbo, Sebba, Solhan, Gorom-Gorom and Markoye municipalities, where assistance is insufficient and irregular, and where some households consume mainly green leaves or wild fonio harvested beyond the security radius around the towns.

The results of the Rapid SMART surveys conducted in July and August 2023 reveal a worsening nutritional situation, with high levels of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) in blockaded areas, especially in the northern half of the country. This is the result of severe levels of food insecurity, limited access to health services and nutrition programs, including vitamin A supplementation, deworming and vaccination, and inadequate hygiene and sanitation conditions, especially in sites with a high presence of IDPs.

Pressure from armed terrorist groups for control of the main roads continues to have a negative impact on market supplies, particularly in the Sahel, Centre-Nord, Nord and Est regions, leading to frequent shortages of staple foods, especially in blockaded areas dependent on supplies from military escorts. Despite annual declines in national average cereal prices, market prices in the Sahel continue to set new seasonal records, limiting access for poor households with low assets. Prices were between 50% and 100% above the five year average in August on the Titao, Djibo, Arbinda and Markoye markets, and between 100% and 150% above average on the Sebba market.

The spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall was satisfactory between mid-July and mid-September, favoring the beginning of green maize and millet harvests, as well as ongoing cowpea and fonio harvests. However, since the second dekad of September, limited water availability has adversely affected crops at the critical flowering stage, especially in the Sahel, Centre-Nord and Centre-Est regions. The limited access to fertilizers could also reduce yields in most regions compared with normal levels. With the reduction in planted areas due to population displacement or inaccessibility of fields, harvests are likely to be below average across the country.