Some 13 million people are at severe risk from a food crisis set to escalate into a full scale humanitarian emergency in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa if urgent action is not taken, international agency Oxfam warned today.
Across Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and northern Senegal, malnutrition rates hover between 10 and 15 per cent, and in some areas rates have risen beyond the emergency threshold level of 15 percent. Over 1 million children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.
In parts of Chad some villagers have been reduced to pounding ant hills to gather grain the ants have stored. They say unless help arrives they will have to abandon their villages in a month’s time.
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| Fatima Mahammad Aki (25), needs to build a new shelter for her and her family of four children. Andrabad village, Chad. |
“Millions of people are on the threshold of a major crisis. All signs point to a drought becoming a catastrophe if nothing is done soon. The world cannot allow this to happen. A concerted aid effort is needed to stop tens of thousands dying due to international complacency,” said Mamadou Biteye Oxfam Regional Director for West Africa.
“We witnessed last year the situation spiralling out of control in East Africa as the aid community failed to act swiftly. The worst can be avoided and thousands of lives will be saved if we act now. It’s that simple.”
The agency said a lethal mix of drought, high food prices, entrenched poverty and regional conflict is behind the crisis.
Across the region, food prices are higher by an average 25 to 50 per cent compared with the last five years. Prices could increase by another 25 to 30 per cent by the peak of the hunger season in July – August, putting the most vulnerable families at increased risk of malnutrition.
The hunger season started early in the Tillabery region in western Niger. Communities have seen food stocks dwindle and debts pile up. Families are migrating to the cities in search of food and jobs. Some 33,000 children have dropped out of school, according to government’s figures, as they follow their parents.
Erratic rains have caused a poor harvest especially in Niger, Chad, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso. Added to this, people have had little time to recover from the food crisis of 2010. People have been hit by an increase in the frequency and severity of food crises in the Sahel region in the last decade.
In Mauritania 700,000 people, nearly a quarter of all families, have difficulty meeting daily food needs. In Chad, 3.5 million people, more than 30 per cent of the population, lack secure food supplies. In parts of Senegal, food insecurity is also on the rise.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, agricultural production in the region is down 25 per cent from 2010. The grain harvest is down by 1.4 million tonnes for the six Sahel countries. The most affected country is Mauritania, with a 52 per cent drop in crop production from last year, while Chad’s food production is down by 50 per cent and Niger’s is 27 per cent.
Although harvests in neighbouring food exporting countries such as Nigeria, Benin and Ghana have been reasonable, it is unlikely surpluses will be able to fill the food needs in the Sahel. Security, the capacity of traders and the introduction of trade restrictions in several countries have also disrupted the flow of food. Currently food aid bought locally is 15 to 20 per cent cheaper than on the international market but with high prices and uncertainty of supply the costs of supplying food will be much higher than in the 2010 food crisis.
The aid group said the conflict in northern Mali has forced 160,000 to flee their homes with more than half escaping to neighbouring countries of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. Violence in Nigeria has also caused a drop in the volume of grains entering Niger and Chad.
With the next harvests not due until October, Oxfam said a concerted aid effort is needed. The UN estimates $724 million is needed to address current needs, an amount that could rise as the crisis progresses. While some rich countries have started to donate, and the European Union in particular has donated generously and early, over a half of the total is still needed.
