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West Africa food crisis

The villagers of Timbouloulag have been forced to supplement their diet with leaves collected from the bush. View more pictures

Poor harvests and water shortages are threatening the lives of over 10 million people across West Africa.

Oxfam has launched an emergency programme to provide support to 400,000 people in Niger, 100,000 people in Mali and 100,000 people in Chad.

• By making a donation to our disaster response fund, you will be helping fund our emergency work worldwide, including Niger, Chad and Mali.

The situation

Irregular rains in 2009 have caused a serious shortage of pasture and water and a poor harvest across West Africa. Niger has been hit hardest with over 8 million people at risk. Further, some 2 million people are affected in Chad and an estimated 629,000 in Mali. Parts of Nigeria and Burkina Faso are also threatened. In Niger, the harvest has fallen by 26 per cent, and some areas, especially the Diffa in the east of country and Tillabéry to the west, have had no harvest at all. In Chad, harvests have fallen by 34 per cent. The areas of Hadjer Lamis, Batha, Kanem, Guera regions and eastern Chad are expected to be severely affected, especially from June 2010. Overall, the harvest in the Sahel has decreased by 9 per cent with great disparities between East and West Sahel.

What Oxfam is doing

In the most vulnerable regions of Niger, especially in the Maradi, Tahoua, Tillabéry and Zinder regions, we are distributing food and supplies to the poorest households and schoolchildren, protecting livestock and buying weak livestock from herders at above market levels.

Particularly important in the current crisis is the early warning system developed by our partners in Niger and broadcast on rural radio networks. This gives cattle herders the information they need to act quickly. In Mali, we will be distributing food and animal feed to people worst affected by the crisis.

In Chad, Oxfam is distributing food and seeds, and running agricultural and livelihood support projects. We are also helping rehabilitate and maintain water points, and carrying out hygiene promotion.

Oxfam has worked in the Sahel region for decades, developing sustainable solutions to tackle the root causes of food shortages such as creating cereal and fodder banks, promoting income diversification as well as education and literacy.

• Donate now to Oxfam's disaster response fund