At least 49.5 million people, a record number, are expected to face the specter of hunger next year in West and Central Africa due to a combination of factors: conflict, climate change and high food prices, they warned today the United Nations.

This number is 4% higher compared to this year.

In coastal countries the number of people facing acute hunger will reach 6.2 million in 2024, up 16%, according to a new regional food security analysis released by the World Food Program (WFP) and other humanitarian organizations.

“Acute hunger remains at record levels in the region, but the funding needed to address it is not keeping pace,” said Margot Fanderfelden, WFP’s acting regional director for West Africa. “Inadequate funding means those who are moderately hungry will be forced to skip meals and consume less nutritious food, risking starvation, perpetuating the cycle of hunger and malnutrition,” he added.

More than two in three households in the West and Central African countries cannot afford to follow a healthy eating plan, according to the analysis.

The cost of a daily, nutritious diet in the central Sahel countries – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – is 110% higher than the minimum wage in the region.

At the same time, the Sahel countries are facing Islamist insurgent attacks that have displaced around 4 million people. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the displaced from the ongoing internal conflicts reach 7 million.

The crisis in the Sahel has forced many people to seek refuge in neighboring countries such as Ivory Coast, Togo and Ghana, which is facing its worst economic crisis in decades.

“Nearly 80% of the people facing difficulties in finding food are in war zones,” commented Olo Sib, WFP Senior Adviser. He also warned that if there is no intervention, the situation will worsen further in some areas and more than 2.6 million people will be at risk of starvation.