Sights and sounds of hope and challenge in Burkina Faso

By: Rosemary McCarney (Plan Canada CEO)

Just a few weeks ago I joined Canada's newly appointed Minister of International Cooperation, and head of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Julian Fantino on a trip to Burkina Faso, one of several West African countries that has for months now been grappling with a severe food crisis brought on by drought, failed crops, and rising food prices that families there simply cannot afford.

Added to that is an ongoing and massive influx of refugees from neighbouring Mali, pouring into Burkina Faso to escape the violence and political conflict that has gripped their home country.

Like the already food-strapped residents of Burkina Faso, the refugees don't just need a safe place to live, but they also need to eat. Throughout this visit I was struck by many sights and sounds that will stay with me for a long time.

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Kornbanker støtter børnene i Sahel

"Den magre sæson" er en del af livet for de familier, der lever af landbrug i Afrikas Sahel-region. Selv i de bedste år er der altid en periode, hvor kornkamrene nærmer sig bunden, inden de næste afgrøder er klar til at blive høstet.

De seneste par år har høsten imidlertid været så begrænset, at det har kulmineret i dette års fødevarekrise på tværs af den vestafrikanske Sahel-region. Det har fået millioner af mennesker til at sulte. Alene i Niger er 6,4 millioner børn og familier ramt af krisen. Heldigvis ser den kommende høst ud til at blive god, og det bør forbedre situationen.

Læs mere om hvordan kornbanker støtter børn i Sahel her!

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Plan cautiously optimistic over Sahel harvest forecast

Plan welcomes the news that harvests in the Sahel should be better this year but warns that the world should not let its guard down, just yet, because children remain at risk in the Sahel which continues to battle several emergencies.

Roland Berehoudougou, Plan’s Disaster Risk Manager for West Africa, says that it is too early to pronounce the Sahel Food Crisis over.

“We are cautiously optimistic because we know from experience that better harvests do not necessarily mean improved food security. We also know that this year’s Sahel Food Crisis was triggered by a number of factors well beyond those that were considered by CILSS,” says Berehoudougou.

CILSS (the inter-agency task force on drought in the Sahel) says that increased cereal production this year could be 5-17% higher than last year. The preliminary forecast is based on a number of factors including greater availability of seeds, improved fertilizers and pesticides, farming equipment sold at subsidized cost and better rainfall.

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A call for help: 18 million at risk of hunger in the Sahel

It started with a food crisis in the Sahel region of West Africa, caused by severe drought and locust infestation. Then conflict forced more than 435,000 Malian people from their homes, straining the already weak food supply. Next, cholera stuck the camps where many of the refugees sought shelter.

Months later when the rain finally came, half a year’s worth pounded down in just six hours, washing away seedlings that started to grow for fall harvest, destroying the little food people had left, their farms and their homes.

As the food and refugee crisis continues to unfold, 18 million people – almost half of whom are women and children – are at risk from hunger. There also nearly 1.5 million children under the age of five who live in the Sahel region and who are currently at risk of acute malnutrition.

An early response is critical to saving lives in the Sahel region of West Africa. Plan is on the ground working to help the most vulnerable people survive the food and refugee crisis but we need your help to reach as many children as possible.

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Niger farmer’s plea: “Please help us, to help ourselves”

Moumouni Hamadou has had a rough year. In fact, the last few years have been the roughest of his 45 years in this remote Nigerien village in Dosso Region.

Since last October, he and his family of eight have survived drinking one cup of porridge per day. That’s all the food they could afford.

In recent years, there has been erratic rainfall leading to poor harvests. They had to dip into their savings to buy grain on the market. When they could finally afford it, the merchants had increased the prices. The regular price of a 220 lbs bag of maize was about $30, but when the lean season started the price doubled.

Læs her hvad der videre skete for Moumouni og hans familie.

Niger oversvømmelser: en drengs historie

Ten-year-old Mahe lives in a rural village in the region of Dosso, about 140km southwest of the capital Niamey.

Heavy rains, which flooded most of Dosso last week, destroyed thousands of homes - including that of Mahe and his family.

“We were living a happy and peaceful life when the rain burst into our village at dawn and destroyed our home, our clothes, our food and all our possessions,“ says Mahe.

His father, a farmer, also lost all his crops in the flood. This is a double blow because they were already affected by drought last year leading to poor harvests. The families here count among the 18 million affected by the food crisis in the Sahel region.

Læs resten af hans historie her!

Flygtninge fra Mali får hjælp

Millioner af mennesker er fortsat truet af sult i Sahel regionen i Vestafrika. Samtidig har politiske uroligheder i regionen forværret situationen.

Næsten 200.000 mennesker er nu flygtet fra Mali til de hårdt trængte nabolande. Det har udløst en decideret flygtningekrise i Niger og Burkina Faso, hvor millioner af mennesker i forvejen befinder sig midt i sultkatastrofen. Flere års tørke, angreb fra skadedyr og manglende høst er skyld i, at befolkningen er efterladt uden mad.

"Vores ansatte i Niger og Burkina Faso ser hver dag familier og deres kvæg strømme ind i lokalsamfund, der i forvejen er yderst fattige," siger Plans leder for katastrofeberedskab i Vestafrika.

"Vi er alvorlig bekymret for flygtningenes helbred, især børnenes. Det er en enorm udfordring at skaffe rent vand, og folk har ikke råd til at købe mad på markedet," siger han.

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