All the countries of West Africa and the Sahel have currently reported cases of COVID-19 and most governments have taken specific measures to prevent it from spreading and limit the harm this 5th pandemic is liable to do in the region. However, these measures, which are necessary to slow down the spread of the pandemic, have an adverse effect on many economic sectors, including humanitarian operations, and could have a short-term and middle-term impact on nutrition systems, with significant socio-economic consequences in the region should these measures be maintained or intensified.

This note drafted by the regional food security nutrition Wworking group aims to highlight the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods and the food and nutrition security of the region’s populations and to call upon all stakeholders to take immediate and concerted action. To fulfil that aim, the note presents urgent recommendations liable to help to ward off and lessen the indirect impact of the COVID-19 crisis, on a region which is characterized by an exceptionally high level of nutrition insecurity with a projection of nearly 19 million people affected by a food crisis between June and August 2020 and more than 7.4 million less than 5-year-old children at risk of acute malnutrition before the arrival of the pandemic.