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Hunger Deepens in West Africa, With 31 Million People at Risk

  • That’s a 30% increases compared to the same period last year
  • WFP aims to assist 18 million people in West, Central Africa
A woman cooks at Yawuri informal camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, on March 29.

A woman cooks at Yawuri informal camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, on March 29.

Photographer: Audu Marte/AFP/Getty Images

Soaring food prices and conflict have driven up the number of people facing hunger by more than 30% compared with the same period last year, according to the World Food Programme.

More than 31 million people in the region are expected to be food insecure and unable to feed themselves between June and August, a period when food is scarce ahead of the next harvest, the United Nations organization said in a statement Friday.