Maize grains |
Amid worsening
food crisis in the Sahel region of West Africa, international aid agencies respond
to calls by the Gambia Government to help feed her people.
The
country suffered a serious drop in crop production in 2011 blamed on late and
erratic rains. As a result, local citizens are already running out of food
supply.
United
Nations and international aid agencies warn in February 2012 that drought and
food shortage in the Sahel is threatening lives, with an estimated over 20
million people to go hungry.
They
warn of a humanitarian catastrophe at a time when “international donors are
starving Africa’s Sahel region of money” needed to avert a disaster.
Four
months after farmers in rural districts experienced poor harvest, the Gambia
Government was compelled to declare a state of emergency in early March and resort
to seeking external help from friends and development partners.
The
poor harvests of rice, groundnuts, millets, maize and sorghum had left villages
in rural-Gambia with just two months of food supplies, contrary to the “usual”
4-6 months.
Close
to one million Gambians are in dire need of food aid as they are already
running out of stock. Gambia’s Agriculture Ministry has since put the
percentage of crop failure during last year’s farming season at 70.
One
meal a day
Last
week, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in
Gambia announced it will provide immediate food assistance to 62,500 people in
the areas most affected by the recent drought.
The
response will last for two months, from April 1, and will cover five rural
districts.
“We
need to intervene immediately to avoid a further deterioration in the nutrition
status of the most vulnerable, especially women and children. We will provide
rice and peas as well as fortified foods that contain important nutrients, such
as oil with vitamins A & D, fortified cereal and iodized salt,” WFP Gambia
Country Director Vitoria Ginja said.
The
situation has already forced rural farmers to resort to just one meal a day,
selling off their livestock and eating seeds and grain originally set aside for
planting, according to reports.
WFP is
set to work in coordination with the Government, partners and local committees,
with an immediate relief operations pegged at US$1.3 million. But warn that
food aid is needed urgently to provide follow-up support, focusing on
livelihoods recovery and the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.
Get
worse
Earlier,
Action Aid International-The Gambia, AATG, announced it will provide 50,000
people with urgently needed food aid and drinking water.
The
international anti-poverty organization said it observed that with extensive
crop failure and seriously inflated food prices, Gambia’s situation will become
“extremely serious” unless emergency measures were put in place immediately.
“The effects of the drought have been made even worse by rapidly rising food prices, which are 25% higher than last year’s,” said Action Aid’s country director for The Gambia, Dr Kujejatou Manneh, who warn the situation can get worse, as water for both people and animals becomes insufficient as the dry season progresses.
Nonetheless, Action Aid cautioned Gambia-Government to focus in the long-term on better irrigation schemes and livelihoods diversification to help people become more resilient to weather related crises like droughts.
Gambian President, Yahya AJJ Jammeh |
“When
you are hard pressed by circumstances like that, it is better to beg than to
see your people dying,” President Jammeh told State-TV
on March 8 after returning from his first aid-seeking-trip of Doha, Qatar.
Given the prevailing circumstances, Gambia’s former president, the first to respond to the government’s call, give up his month’s salary of D50, 000, more than $1724 to support relief efforts.
Given the prevailing circumstances, Gambia’s former president, the first to respond to the government’s call, give up his month’s salary of D50, 000, more than $1724 to support relief efforts.
Largest
coverage
The
largest intended coverage so far comes from the UN System in The
Gambia, which said it is providing immediate humanitarian support and recovery
assistance to over 300,000 people.
The support is expected to cover 19 of 25 affected
districts in the country and will end in September 2012. The relief will cover
partly over half a million people, among them, more than 67,000 children under
five and over 26,000 pregnant and lactating women.
“We should be ready at all times to manage both
present and future climate-related risks to ensure that the vulnerable are
protected from hunger and disease,” stressed resident coordinator for the UN
System, Chinwe Diké, whose institutions has mobilised US$ 4.8 million through the UN’s Central
Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and contributions from other UN Agencies.
Written by
Modou S. Joof
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