Ukraine war increases U.N. food agency's costs in hunger-hit West Africa

FILE PHOTO: Residents of the Nigerien village of Zerma Dare sit in a camp for displaced people in the town of Ouallam, Niger, July 6, 2021. Picture taken July 6, 2021. REUTERS/Media Coulibaly/File Photo

DAKAR (Reuters) - Operational costs of the United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) will increase by $136 million in West Africa this year because of the global rise in food and fuel prices driven by the war in Ukraine, the agency said on Thursday.

The additional costs will hamper attempts to relieve a spiralling food crisis in the region fuelled by conflict, drought, pandemic-linked border closures and the impact of Ukraine's crisis on food prices and availability.