Recent reports suggest an imminent threat of hunger in several countries of the West African sub-region. Persistent drought in the region partly accounts for this. Because of the resulting poor harvests and soaring food prices, some West African countries are already experiencing the hunger crisis. According to its 2010 report, the British charity Oxfam, said that it had already launched emergency appeal for seven million pounds sterling to help about 800,000 people threatened by hunger in different countries of the sub-region.

The Oxfam report warns of a worsening situation that may likely affect up to 10 million people in the Sahel region of West Africa. Niger Republic, which is already hard hit by the hunger crisis, has up to seven million people directly facing the scourge. Some of the people already eat leaves and dirty water to survive, while livestock die daily due to lack of food.

While the Oxfam report has not specifically listed Nigeria among the countries directly in the line of the hunger scourge, we cannot consider ourselves immune to a situation which has so terribly affected our neighbours. Not only are we forced to bear the brunt of the influx of hungry migrants from Niger and Chad, we also have to worry about having the same climatic conditions that made our neighbours prone to hunger. Drought is a regular occurrence in states like Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara as well as others neighbouring Niger and Chad republics. In the same vein, desertification is another environmental disaster that affects Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe and other states.