JOHANNESBURG — More than 120,000 Nigerians likely will suffer “catastrophic” famine-like conditions caused by Boko Haram’s Islamic uprising, among 11 million confronting severe food shortages this year, according to a new UN report. The report from the Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that Africa’s biggest humanitarian crisis likely will deteriorate during the “lean” food season between June and August in northeast Nigeria. But Nigeria remains a “food-deficit country” with cereal imports, mainly rice and wheat, forecast to exceed 7 million tons this year, it said. Thousands of Nigerians marched this week to protest growing hardship brought on by high food prices, poverty, corruption and unemployment, among other issues. “With complete focus on improving the economy every day, the recession will soon be history,” he said in a statement Tuesday, without elaborating.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer February 08, 2017 14:26 UTC