Nigeria - Floods Response: Flash Update 3 (Last Updated: 22 November 2022)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Floods have affected more than 4.4 million people across Nigeria since July, with over 2.4 million people displaced, about half of them in Bayelsa State alone. 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been affected.

• Floods have also damaged over 650,000 hectares of farmland, raising concerns of worsening hunger for millions of people amid already alarming food insecurity levels in the country.

• The United Nations has released US$10.5 million from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to ramp up the flood response in conflict-ravaged Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states, and in other parts of the country.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Severe floods caused by heavy rains and overflowing rivers have affected more than 4.4 million people across Nigeria since July, according to the latest update by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The floods have displaced over 2.4 million people, about half (1.2 million) of them in Bayelsa State alone. More than 660 people have lost their lives. The catastrophic floods have also destroyed more than 340,000 houses in frontline states leaving 1.9 million children displaced, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The floods have damaged more than 650,000 hectares of farmland and may worsen already alarming levels of hunger and malnutrition in the country. More than 19.5 million people in Nigeria were already facing severe food insecurity before the floods, according to the 2022 Cadre Harmonisé food security and nutrition assessment.

The floods have occurred alongside a severe cholera outbreak that has killed more than 465 people and affected over 18,000 others in 31 states since January. Flooding has increased the risk of the transmission of water-borne and vector-borne diseases such as cholera, malaria, and typhoid fever. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the flooding and insecurity have triggered population movements from places with cholera outbreaks to places not yet affected, increasing the risk of further spread of the disease.

To complement ongoing flood response efforts by the Government of Nigeria and the Nigerian Red Cross/Red Crescent alongside other humanitarian partners, the United Nations on 18 November announced the release of $10.5 million from the NHF and CERF to provide much needed water, sanitation, health care, shelter, and non-food items to people affected and left vulnerable by floods in the BAY states in north-east Nigeria, and in Anambra, Bayelsa, Kogi, and Niger states.

As floodwater recedes in many locations and people move back to their homes, partners are moving from an emergency response towards a recovery response. Many of the humanitarian needs remain the same, including shelter needs, interventions to prevent or address disease outbreaks such as cholera, providing access to clean water and sanitation, health care and others. Agricultural support - including replacing seeds and tools and other productive assets - is also urgently needed to address crops losses during the harvest season. This is critical to address food security and, potentially, malnutrition. A third phase, including measures to improve preparedness and contingency planning, mitigation, and disaster risk reduction, as well as anticipatory action for next year is already being discussed with authorities.