West Africa: acting now to prevent catastrophe
"If you go to my grain store, you will see it is empty. We have no food until October." -- Hamani Fodi, Niger
More than 18 million people across Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Chad are facing a devastating food crisis. We have pledged £300,000 to respond.
After a failed harvest in 2011, millions of people across the Sahel region of West Africa are facing severe food shortages. Food prices are high, grain reserves are low, and many people are taking extreme measures to cope. With the next harvest not due until October, the situation will get much worse unless urgent action is taken. Donate to our West Africa Food Crisis appeal>> and help us scale up our vital work in this area.
Hamani, a grandfather in the Dosso region of Niger, said: “If you go to my grain store, you will see it is empty. We have no food until October. We have sold our cows and goats, and now we have nothing left to sell. What is very painful is when your grandchildren surround you and say ‘We need food’ and there is no food to give them.”
CAFOD’s response to the crisis
We are working with our partner CADEV (Caritas Niger) to:
• Run nutrition centres for malnourished children
• Pay people in cash or food to work on projects that benefit their communities
• Support cereal banks that provide grain at subsidised prices
• Distribute food to the most vulnerable
• Organise seed fairs, so that farmers can plant in the next agricultural season.
We are also responding to the refugee crisis caused by fighting in Mali– a crisis that could be made worse by Mali’s recent military coup
Along with other aid agencies, we recently commissioned a report - Escaping the hunger crisis: pathways to resilience in the Sahel - that calls for long-term action to address what has become a chronic crisis in the region.
Philippe Mougin, who leads our Humanitarian Team in West Africa, said: “Sadly, hunger is a recurring theme in this region, a slow-burning problem that rarely hits the headlines. But this year’s food crisis is the worst to have hit the region for many years. We need to act now to prevent this crisis becoming a catastrophe.”
Donate to our West Africa Food Crisis appeal>>
In addition to our emergency work on the ground, along with other aid agencies, we recently commissioned a report - Escaping the hunger crisis: pathways to resilience in the Sahel - that calls for long-term action to address what has become a chronic crisis in the region.
