Families driven out of villages, farmers unable to tend crops, food stocks of entire communities raided: Boko Haram's impact on the people of Western and Central Africa lingers long after the rape and slaughter. More than 5.5 million people living in conflict areas in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, nearly half of whom have been displaced due to ongoing attacks by the Islamist militant group, don't have enough to eat or else lack access to nutritious foods, according to the UN's emergency aid coordination body OCHA. "These are people who have seen guys with guns show up in their villages and kill their [families], or have had their villages torched and then they've fled," Toby Lanzer, OCHA's regional humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel, told IRIN. "The impact has been devastating. They have no food. They've lost their livelihoods. They've been thrust out of their villages... and can't get back to harvest." An estimated 2.5 million people have been displaced in the region due to Boko Haram since May 2013. For most, it is an extremely challenging road back to self-sufficiency. From 'breadwinner' to 'beggar' Some 234,000 people have returned to Nigeria's northeastern Adamawa State during the past four months, following the government's recent push for the displaced to go home. For many, there is nothing to return to. Houses have been destroyed, shops looted, schools burnt and fields lie barren. See: Freedom brings stigma and fresh fears for Boko Haram 'wives' Mohamed Ali, a 45-year-old farmer, recently returned to his village in northern Adamawa, only to find himself unemployed and doing menial jobs to survive. His field has been burnt to the ground and he has no access to seeds, tools or fertilisers to rebuild his life. Nor has he any money.
