"FAO estimates that 37 countries, including 28 in Africa, are in need of external assistance for food," FAO said in its report, titled "Crop Prospects and Food Situation," specifying that conflicts and weather-related shocks were the main reason for food insecurity in the states.
The situations in northern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen cause grave concerns as over 20 million people are subjected to food insecurity there, FAO noted.
The FAO report indicated that global wheat production in 2017 is expected to be above average and Southern Africa’s production is likely to recover from low outputs, however, 13 of the 37 states, suffering food insecurity, experience widespread lack of access to food supplies.
On February 20, South Sudan’s National Bureau of Statistic announced famine and serious food shortage in some regions of the state and three UN agencies, namely FAO, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a joint press release that the lives of some 100,000 people in South Sudan were endangered due to starvation.
Following the announcement, the United Kingdom decided to provide Somalia, South Sudan, North East Nigeria and Yemen with humanitarian support packages.
