Sahel food crisis update: Lifting a heavy load

Humanitarian action helped avert the worst possible outcome in the Sahel, but farmers need more support to avoid future food shortages.

 

 

By Chris Hufstader/ Oxfam



Before completely turning my back on 2012, I am reflecting on Oxfam's work in the Sahel over the last year. After a season of poor or erratic rains across the region in 2011, Oxfam and many other humanitarian groups feared that another bad harvest in 2012 would push millions into starvation. I visited farmers in far eastern Senegal in April of 2012 to see what they recommended: They wanted seeds so they could plant, and food so they could work. They also said they needed rain, never guaranteed in the Sahel.

Oxfam responded to the crisis in seven countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, The Gambia, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal. We assisted more than 1 million people with a variety of programs tailored to the specific location: We helped people fleeing violence and instability in Mali get the food and clean water they needed to survive. Oxfam repaired wells, and provided fodder for animals, and paid people to work on erosion control and soil improvement projects. We distributed soap so people could keep clean, and the means to treat water, to reduce vulnerability to waterborne diseases. We distributed food in places where none was available, and money to buy it where it was.