COVID-19 exacerbates poverty in West Africa

The number of people living in extreme poverty in Western Africa increased by 3 percent in 2021, driven by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, says a report by the Economic Community of West African States.

The report, published in partnership with the World Food Programme and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said the fraction of people living on less than $1.90 a day in West Africa has increased from 2.3 percent in 2020 to 2.9 percent in 2021.

Findings further indicate that measures undertaken by the regional countries to control the spread of the pandemic, such as movement restrictions, border closures and disruption of supply chains, have hit income-generating activities and exacerbated food price increases in the markets.

People who rely on unstable income sources such as street vendors, small traders and casual workers were the worst hit.

The deteriorating economic situation has greatly impacted the food security and nutrition situation in the region, leaving more than 25 million people unable to meet their basic food needs, an increase of 34 percent compared to 2020, the report said.

Conflict-affected areas such as the Lake Chad Basin, Sahel region and the Liptako-Gourma region, which borders Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, are the hardest hit, with the situation forcing people to sell their assets and livelihoods to buy food.

The debt burdens of West African countries have also increased due to slow economic recovery, shrinking fiscal space and weak resource mobilization.

"The coronavirus health crisis has particularly annihilated the benefits gained by ECOWAS and its member states in the fight against food insecurity and malnutrition," Sekou Sangare, ECOWAS commissioner for agriculture, environment and water resources said. "Even if we are happy with the governments' response, we have to worry about the residual effects of the health and economic crisis as they are likely to continue disturbing our food systems for a long time while compromising population’s access to food due to multiple factors."

Chris Nikoi, the regional director of the World Food Programme in West Africa, said the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 calls for immediate and concerted actions to further strengthen people’s resilience and capacity to withstand shocks.

"This report clearly shows the urgent need for governments and partners to deliberately increase investments to strengthen and increase social protection programs, social safety-nets such as school meals, and other livelihoods."

To control spread of the virus even as the countries work toward a post-COVID-19 recovery strategy, the report recommended continual observation of measures such as wearing face masks, social distancing and washing hands, while maintaining constant surveillance. The report also recommended significant increase in vaccine availability as well as improving dose uptake.

It also urged countries to continue mobilizing internal and external resources to finance economic recovery plans as well as extend the reach of social protection programs such as food and medical supplies.

According to data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the West African region had reported a total of 813,634 COVID-19 infection cases and 10,933 deaths as of Thursday.