Entire region at risk of full-blown crises

THE United Nations’ food aid agency urged donors not to forget the other hard-hit countries in Africa’s Sahel region, saying they face similar hunger crises to the one in neighbouring Niger.

Ahead of the official launch of a revised UN appeal for €65 million for Niger, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso are also at risk.

This follows the same lethal combination of drought and crop-devouring locusts.

WFP spokesman Simon Pluess said: “It is our responsibility to ensure that these countries which have been affected do not turn into full-blown food crises like that ravaging Niger.”

In Mali, around a million people - close to 10% of the population - are threatened by hunger, Mr Pluess said.

In some regions of the country, notably on the border with Mauritania, some 60% of people are suffering from acute malnutrition.

The WFP has received just $1.2 million of the $7.3m (€5.9m) it needs for Mali.

In Burkina Faso, half a million people need food aid in the north of the country.

In Mauritania, around 600,000 people are affected, although the WFP has so far managed to hold off a severe food crisis.