Oslo: Aid agencies must get food to close to 3 million people by July to avert a famine in Africa’s Lake Chad region caused by drought, chronic poverty and Islamist insurgents Boko Haram, the United Nations said yesterday as it launched a funding appeal.
International donors at a conference in Oslo pledged $672m for the next three years, $457m of which was for 2017, Norway’s foreign minister said. It was not clear whether that was all new money or had already been earmarked previously.
The United Nations says it needs $1.5bn in humanitarian aid for the region this year.
The presence of Boko Haram militants has prevented farmers from planting crops or accessing Lake Chad to water their animals. Fishermen have also been prevented from accessing the lake which is shared between Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad, aid experts say.
Boko Haram militants have killed around 15,000 people and forced more than 2 million from their homes during a seven-year insurgency. Their attacks and the counter operations by Nigerian authorities still disrupt vital economic activity, officials say.
