BISSAU, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of people facing food insecurity in Guinea-Bissau has increased by 24 percent over the past 12 months, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) revealed on Tuesday, attributing the situation to flooding caused by heavy rainfall.
In September 2024, Guinea-Bissau experienced "exceptional-scale" flooding due to intense and prolonged rains, which submerged a total area of 125,221 hectares, including 5,813 hectares of farmland.
As a result of this disaster, the number of people facing food insecurity in the country rose from 23,671 between March and May 2024 to 121,695 today, according to a WFP statement.
By July and August 2025, the number of people affected by food insecurity is expected to reach 146,034, which would mark a "crisis" phase, representing a 26 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024, the UN agency warned.
"These households will need resilience-strengthening programs to prevent them from sliding into crisis," the WFP added. The figures were confirmed during a meeting of the regional mechanism for the prevention and management of food crises.
