West Africa: Ebola after-effects threaten food security (Reuters)

| August 8, 2016

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Farmers in West Africa are in urgent need of support as they struggle to manage the after-effects of the Ebola crisis, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

During the epidemic, many farmers in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia were unable to grow or sell their crops because of travel restrictions, border closures, and quarantines. Many crops went unharvested. These measures were put in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

The concern now is that farmers in these areas will have to migrate in search of work.

Kanayo Nwanze is the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. He says: “Ebola has had an enormous impact on the lives of rural people—many of whom are small-scale farmers who could not grow food or earn a living during the epidemic…. If we do not channel our investments to the rural areas now, these farmers may have to migrate in search of work. This could compromise the future food security of these countries.”

To read the full article, go to: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-westafrica-ebola-hunger-idUSKCN10E1PS

Photo credit: AFP