Oxfam launches £7million emergency appeal as drought victims eat poultry feed
More than ten million people across West Africa are facing severe hunger and malnutrition because of drought, poor harvests and rising food prices, the international aid agency, Oxfam, has warned.
Oxfam has just launched a £7m emergency appeal to help more than 800,000 of the most vulnerable people.
Worsening conditions in the Sahel region of West Africa - a semi-arid belt which stretches across the southern Sahara - have seen malnutrition rates soar as families struggle to find enough food to eat.
Niger – the world’s least developed country - is at the centre of the crisis, with more than seven million people, almost half the population, facing food insecurity; 3.3 million, approaching a quarter of the population, are severely food insecure. Another two million people in Chad, more than 600,000 in Mali and more than 300,000 in Mauritania are at risk. Parts of Burkina Faso and the extreme north of Nigeria have also been affected.
Oxfam is spending £3 million from its reserves to start emergency work in the most affected areas. It is currently facing a funding gap of £7 million to tackle the crisis.
“We are witnessing an unfolding disaster which can be averted if we act quickly,” said Mamadou Biteye, who heads Oxfam’s work in West Africa, “the next harvests are several months away and people are already desperate. People are eating leaves and drinking dirty water. Unless we can raise money for this we will be forced to turn our backs on those most in need. That is why we are calling on the public, at a time when we know money is tight, to dig deep into their pockets to help those in the most dire need. Just a small amount will make a huge difference. For £20 you could feed a family for ten days.”
In parts of Niger and Chad, people are eating wild fruits, leaves and maize meant for feeding poultry. And Chad women are digging ant-hills to eat the grains and seeds the ants have stored. Large numbers of children have been pulled out of school as families move to urban areas in search of food and work, and women are begging in towns.
Cattle herders, who depend on their animals for food and income, are particularly vulnerable. Many animals have died in Chad, Mali and Niger, forcing families to leave their villages, many crossing into neighbouring countries in search of food and pasture for animals.
In Niger, Mali and Chad, Oxfam is distributing food, seeds and animal feed to the most vulnerable families, buying weak livestock from herders at above-market prices and making the meat available to local populations; vaccinating animals and running cash-for-work programmes.
While Oxfam welcomes funding it has received so far, the agency said that the overall response by governments around the world so far has been woefully inadequate given the scale and depth of the crisis. The Niger Emergency Humanitarian Action Plan - a joint UN and NGO appeal – still lacks almost half of the funds needed. A total of $205 million has been requested.
“Donors need to act urgently before this food crisis becomes a catastrophe. Scale and speed are of the essence,” Oxfam’s Biteye said.
When there was a similar food crisis in Niger five years ago, donors acted too late. “Lives were needlessly lost and the cost of the humanitarian operation soared. Money is urgently needed now to save lives and put lives together,” Biteye said.
UK’s Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell said: “I am deeply concerned by the situation in Niger and Chad. The current humanitarian crisis has left millions of people without enough food to eat and thousands of children at risk of malnutrition.
“Oxfam is working to deliver vital aid to those who need it most but they do not have enough funding to meet all the needs. Britain has provided £15 million to help deliver emergency food aid and treatment for malnourished children and I urge other donors to respond generously.”
You can donate to Oxfam’s appeal online, by calling or texting if you are in the UK. Text: ‘DONATE’ to 70066 to give £5; log on to www.oxfam.org.uk/emergencies or call 0300 200 1999.
