Fresh data from the World Bank paints a worrying, but vivid, picture of food insecurity across West and Central Africa, with Ghana and Nigeria standing out for all the wrong reasons.
The Bank’s latest regional update shows a fragile food and nutrition landscape, one that is only just beginning to stabilize as the 2025/26 farming season unfolds. Across the Sahel, farmers are benefiting from normal to above-average rainfall that is nurturing strong crop growth. But in parts of the Gulf of Guinea, including Ghana, the story is different: rains came late, second-season showers lagged, and extreme weather battered communities.
Floods, hailstorms, and violent rains affected more than 400,000 people from Cabo Verde to Nigeria, disrupting farms and livelihoods. Still, the broader agricultural outlook remains cautiously positive.
Cereal production is projected to hit 78–88 million metric tons, up to 14% higher than last year, while tuber output could reach 267–284 million metric tons. Pastoral conditions also look healthy, though herders in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger still face insecurity and restricted movement.
But when it comes to market prices, Ghana finds itself in harsh territory.
According to the report, staple food prices in Ghana and Nigeria are now more than 100% above the five-year average, one of the steepest surges in the entire region. Sierra Leone follows at about 40% above trend. These elevated prices reflect persistent inflationary pressure and currency strain that continue to squeeze urban households and low-income families.
“Staple food prices remain extremely high in Ghana and Nigeria – more than 100 percent above the five-year average – and about 40 percent higher in Sierra Leone, reflecting ongoing inflation and currency pressures,” the report said
Elsewhere, countries like Benin, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso are seeing modest price relief thanks to better harvests and tighter market regulation. Even livestock prices are climbing, giving herding communities slightly improved terms of trade as cereal prices ease in some pockets.
Still, conflict and economic instability remain powerful drivers of hunger across the region. From insurgencies in the Sahel to persistent inflation in coastal states like Ghana and The Gambia, millions remain stuck in crisis-level food insecurity.
Regional bodies and governments, backed by ECOWAS, CILSS, and development partners, are scaling up early-warning systems, post-harvest monitoring, and crisis-preparedness. But for many families across the region, and especially in Ghana’s hardest-hit urban centers, the pressure at the market stalls is only growing heavier.
