By John Ikani
The Government of the United States has pledged 215m (£175m) in emergency aid to 10 African countries as part of efforts geared towards combating food insecurity on the continent.
US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken announced the move when he met several African foreign ministers on the sidelines of a meeting on global food security in New York.
The 10 beneficiaries are African States suffering food shortage wrought by climate change, the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
They include Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
On Wednesday the UN warned that a growing global food crisis could last years if it goes unchecked.
The global cost of fertiliser has quadrupled since the start of the pandemic and has skyrocketed further with the Ukraine war.