Food Crisis in Sahel

More than 18 million people across West and Central Africa are facing a food crisis following erratic rains that have caused poor food harvests and water shortages. Oxfam is gearing up our response: we hope to reach 1.2 million people across Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal with humanitarian aid. But need to raise more money in order to do so.

In 2012 the Sahel region of West and Central Africa is once again likely to face a serious food crisis that could, if early and effective action is not taken, prove as costly to lives and livelihoods as the past food crises in 2005, 2008 and 2010, which affected more than 10 million people.

Yet early recognition of the coming crisis also provides an opportunity to avoid the mistakes of the past, enabling action months earlier than in previous crises. By investing now in earlier and more cost-effective actions, vulnerable people can be protected from the worst impacts of the coming crisis at a much lower cost than if we waited.

The response should not stop at meeting emergency needs; it needs also to tackle the underlying causes of crises like this to prevent them recurring. By investing more in longer-term interventions to reduce the people’s vulnerability to external shocks, we can work to break the hunger cycle in the Sahel.

Donate

Oxfam urgently needs to raise $53 million to meet the needs of around 1.2 million across six countries with life-saving humanitarian aid. However, we have only managed, so far, to collect a third of this amount – a gap of $41 million which would result in leaving thousands of vulnerable people without food, clean water and vital assistance. Please consider helping fund our emergency work in West and Central Africa. These Oxfam affiliates are running direct appeals:

• Oxfam America
• Oxfam Canada
• Oxfam France
• Oxfam Germany
• Oxfam GB
• Oxfam Hong Kong
• Oxfam Novib (Netherlands)
• Oxfam-Québec
• Intermón Oxfam (Spain)

Alternatively, you can make a donation to the general emergency fund of your nearest national Oxfam affiliate. Your money will be used to fund our emergency work worldwide, which includes responding in countries such as Niger, Mali and Chad.

The situation in the Sahel

Early warning systems have identified a range of factors that are contributing to the coming crisis. Low rainfall and water levels, poor harvests and lack of pasture, high food prices and a drop in remittances from migrants are all causing serious problems.

According to national early warning systems, cereal production is down compared to the five year average, with Mauritania and Chad showing deficits of over 50% compared to last year. National food reserves are dangerously low, while prices of some key cereals have dramatically increased: prices of corn in the Sahel are 60-85% higher than last five year average prices.

Recent reports said over 5.4 million people (35% of the population) in Niger, some 3.5 million people in Mali, 2 million in Burkina Faso and 700,000 people (over one-quarter of the population) in Mauritania are estimated to be vulnerable to food insecurity. In Chad, 13 out of 22 regions could be affected by this food crisis: some 3.6 million people don’t have always enough to eat.

What Oxfam is doing

Oxfam is gearing up its work to address immediately the needs of the most vulnerable people. We're working to help communities increase their resilience to the coming crisis, we are getting ready to provide food assistance. Oxfam is targeting to reach 1.2 million people across Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal with humanitarian aid.

In Burkina Faso, Oxfam is aiming to help over 100,000 people access food, with cash for work activities, animal health and food programs for pastoralist communities, and assistance to refugees from Mali.

In Mali, Oxfam programs are continuing despite the significant disruptions which we have faced following the unrest in the north of the country at the end of March. Due to the ongoing fragile security situation, we have suspended the operations of our office in Gao, which was violently looted by armed gang. Our humanitarian programs continue around the town of Gao, with cash based intervention. In Kayes, we are scaling up our activities to help vulnerable families with cash transfers, water and public health related work. We have also sent an assessment team to Mopti which is likely to be an area where people are congregating as it is the first safe town which is reached on the road out of the occupied northern territories.

In Mauritania, Oxfam started to work closely with some of the poorest families mainly around the Gorgol and Brakhna regions and will be reaching 70,000 people this year. Our work is largely supporting pastoralist communities with activities such as food for cattle, cash transfers, the rehabilitation of wells and water and sanitation programs. We have also started a ‘co-op’ vegetable gardens program for 1,300 women by pumping water from a river.

In Chad, where Oxfam has been present for over 45 years, we aim to reach over 200,000 people for the current crisis with cash transfers, seed distribution, food for herds, veterinary care, construction and rehabilitation of wells and public health promotion.

In Niger, Oxfam and its partners have begun cash for work, cash transfers and water and sanitation programs. We aim to reach some 450,000 people among vulnerable families, pastoralist communities, refugees from Mali and the poorest families who host them.

In Senegal, our program includes support to agricultural inputs with seeds and fertilizers for the upcoming planting season and cash transfers to ensure that people have the resources they need to buy food, in the regions of Kolda (south) and Kedougou (east).

While an early response to the coming crisis is crucial to protect people in 2012, preventing future crises will require action to address the root causes and provide longer-term support for the poorest people in a region where 300,000 children die from malnutrition-related diseases in a ‘non-crisis’ year.

April 2012

Read more

Infographic: 18 million at risk in the Sahel food crisis

Blog: Hunger calls in Africa’s Sahel region

Photos: Baaba Maal visits drought-stricken Mauritania (February 2012)

Story: Oxfam's humanitarian program of destocking cattle in Niger

Video: Oxfam's Fred Perraut reports from Chad

Report: Escaping the Hunger Cycle: Pathways to resilience in the Sahel (November 2011)

Issue Briefing: Food Crisis in the Sahel: Five steps to break the hunger cycle in 2012 (April 2012)