Rich nations ‘failing to act on Mali food crisis’

MORE than one million people in Mali are facing a major food crisis after rich countries failed to respond to a call for emergency funds, Oxfam said yesterday.

Just 14% of the €6.1 million requested by the World Food Programme has been received since an appeal was launched last December, the international aid agency has said.

By contrast, a request for help in neighbouring Niger, West Africa, is 57% funded, with more money on the way following media coverage, Oxfam said.

Natasha Kofoworola Quist, the charity’s regional director for West Africa, warned: “Now that the media spotlight is focused on Niger, the world has finally started responding to the crisis there.

“But this is not just about Niger. This food crisis is affecting countries across West Africa, particularly Mali.

“The Mali government, international donors and the World Food Programme have started distributing food, but it is not enough.

“Donors have a window of opportunity. They can help to avert a major food crisis in Mali, but they must act now.”

Oxfam estimates that 1.1 million people are at risk in Mali, despite local, national and international efforts. The worst-hit areas are Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal, all in the north of the country. Oxfam’s food support programme in the Gao region, launched in March, will benefit 50,000 people.

Neighbouring Mauritania is also affected after 1.6m hectares of land was destroyed by locusts last year.

About 800,000 people are at risk there - more than 25% of the population - with the worst affected regions being Aftout and Affol, in the south-eastern border region with Mali, and the Senegal River Valley to the south.

Oxfam launched a food support programme there in April to help 40,000 of those in need.

In neighbouring Burkina Faso more than 500,000 people are also in need of food assistance, an Oxfam spokeswoman said.

In Niger, around 2.5m people are suffering from food shortage, with at least 800,000 children at risk of malnutrition.

Yesterday, the UN food agency warned that livestock feed and crop seeds are still sorely needed in Niger. More than 10,000 families have lost their livestock, and funds are desperately needed to provide veterinary services and livestock feed, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

The Rome-based UN agency said it was renewing its appeal, previously made in May, because it had received only €650,000 from Sweden to provide cereal and seeds for planting.

FAO said it was supporting 12,500 households by distributing tools and vegetable seeds that can be sown in small-scale irrigated plots and along riverbeds now and in the dry season, which begins in October.