Food insecurity is getting worse in West Africa due to rising food price resulting from climate change and conflict challenges, according to the World Bank’s Food Security Report for February 2025.
It said up to 50 million people in West and Central Africa, including Ghana, are expected to face food insecurity during the 2025 lean season, as rising food prices and supply shortages will drive the region’s hunger crisis.
The report noted that agricultural and export prices have increased by 3% and 6%, respectively, since the previous update, while maize prices reached a 15-month high due to limited supply.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Food Price Monitoring and Analysis also shows that grain prices across the Sahel and Gulf of Guinea have generally risen compared to the same period last year.
For instance, in Mali, wholesale sorghum prices in January 2025 were 10% to 25% higher year-on-year, while millet prices surged between 15% and 45%. In Burkina Faso, wholesale sorghum and millet prices increased by up to 55% in most selected markets. These price hikes are driven by high transportation costs, conflict-related market forces, and poor cereal harvests in 2024.
Globally, 281 million people experienced acute food insecurity in 2023, yet humanitarian aid to food sectors fell by 30% compared to 2022, despite a long-term increase of 56% since 2016.
In addition, the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report (January 2025) forecasts global economic growth at 2.7% through 2026, signaling limited progress in reducing poverty or addressing rising food insecurity in vulnerable countries.
