UN: Sahel region needs aid
2005-07-28 10:19
New York - The food emergency currently dogging Niger is also affecting Africa's entire Sahel region, with hundreds of thousands of people in need of assistance in Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, according United Nations data made available on Wednesday.
In Niger, 2.5 million people, including 800 000 children, are facing famine and UN relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland last week appealed for millions of dollars in aid from donors to tackle the crisis.
In neighboring Mali, an estimated 1.1 million people will need food assistance this year, mainly in the regions of Mopti, Timbuktu and Gao, the UN's office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) said.
Lethal combination blamed for food shortages
A lethal combination of locusts and drought has resulted in a 42% drop in Malian farm production compared to last year, creating pockets of severe need.
In Burkina Faso, Ocha said half a million people needed food aid in the northern part of the country. According to an evaluation mission conducted in June in areas of particular concern, 11% of children aged one to five years suffered from moderate malnutrition, while 6% suffered from acute malnutrition.
In Mauritania, 60% of households in the agro-pastoral zone will not have enough to eat in the coming year, the lean season during 2005 is expected to be harsher than usual, according to a World Food Program (WFP) vulnerability study. Some 750 000 people or 26% of the population have been affected by last year's locust invasion.
- AFP