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Urgent Food Help to Africa Strained as Covid-19 Adds to Hunger

United Nations sees sharp rise in food insecurity on continent
Government food-parcel programs hurt by quality, lockdowns

Residents queue to receive parcels of food aid at a distribution point in Finetown, south of Johannesburg. — Residents queue to receive parcels of food aid at a distribution point in Finetown, south of Johannesburg.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

By

Katarina Hoije,

Agnieszka de Sousa, and

May 28, 2020, 4:00 AM UTCUpdated onMay 28, 2020, 7:17 AM UTC

Fatou Fofana used to be able to support herself, her baby daughter and two other children by selling spices and stock cubes on the outskirts of Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s biggest city. But measures to contain the coronavirus have reduced her earnings to about $2 a day, leaving her reliant on local food aid to survive.

The 39-year-old’s market stall was closed by authorities enforcing the country’s lockdown in late March, and trading hours remain restricted more than two months later.