Dakar (Senegal), Apr 5 (AP) West Africa is facing its worst food crisis in a decade due to increasing conflicts, droughts, floods and the war in Ukraine, nearly a dozen international organisations said in a report on Tuesday.

The number of West Africans needing emergency food assistance has nearly quadrupled from 7 million in 2015 to 27 million this year in nations including Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali and Nigeria, where thousands have also been displaced because of rising Islamic extremist violence, the report said.

Also Read | New COVID-19 Variant XE as Mutation of Omicron Found in UK, 10% More Transmissible Than Other Mutations.

The number could jump to 38 million by June if action isn't taken soon to help people in the Sahel, the sweeping region south of the Sahara Desert, the groups warned.

“Cereal production in some parts of the Sahel has dropped by about a third compared to last year. Family food supplies are running out. Drought, floods, conflict, and the economic impacts of COVID-19 have forced millions of people off their land, pushing them to the brink,” according to Assalama Dawalack Sidi, Oxfam's regional director for West and Central Africa.

Also Read | Sri Lanka Crisis: US Dollar Reaches Over 300 Against Sri Lankan Rupee For First Time.

Children are suffering deeply, with estimates by the United Nations saying that some 6.3 million children five years and under will be acutely malnourished this year.

Young girls will also face the brunt of the problem, being forced into early marriage or facing gender-based violence as food becomes scarcer, the 11 international organisations said.

Drought and poor rainfall distribution have reduced the food sources in many communities in the central Sahel region, the report said. Food prices have increased by up to 30 per cent in West Africa, it said.

Global prices have risen as trade has been interrupted by the war in Ukraine, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Wheat availability will also be greatly affected in six West African countries that import at least 30 per cent of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine, it said.

The crisis in Europe is also resulting in funding cuts to aid in Africa and USD4 billion is needed to provide adequate support to the continent, the report said.

“Ukraine is receiving the right level of solidarity and care, this level should be the standard for responses to all crises, everywhere else,” said Moumouni Kinda, director-general of ALIMA.

The appeal comes before a conference on the Sahel on Wednesday which Oxfam's Sidi said will be “a unique opportunity to mobilise the necessary emergency food and nutrition assistance and to prove that the lives of people in Africa are not worth less than those in Europe”. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)