The spectre of hunger is again stalking the people of the western Sahel, at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. Thanks to the early-warning systems funded by Canada and other donors, we now know that a major food crisis is brewing. We know in time to head it off.

Late and irregular rainfall, followed by plagues of birds, locusts and other pests have decimated the harvests of poor farmers and made pasture scarce for herders. Cereal production in the five countries of the region is down by a quarter from last year and is well below the five-year average. In Mauritania and Chad farmers harvested barely half what they got last year. National food reserves exist, but they hold nowhere near the quantity needed to mitigate the deficit.

Even if the market were well stocked, the prices of key cereals are 10 to 40%  higher than usual. Most people in the Sahel buy their food, and the most vulnerable families spend up to 80% of their income on it. As if failed harvests and skyrocketing prices weren’t enough, remittances from family members working in Libya and Côte d’Ivoire have evaporated due to the conflicts in those countries.

The Sahel is an ecologically fragile region prone to shocks. Even in a “normal” year, half of all children under five suffer chronic malnutrition. Rates of acute malnutrition among children are consistently above the 10 per cent threshold that for UNICEF defines an emergency. Years with no “crisis” still see 300,000 children die from malnutrition-related causes.

But the Sahel is not condemned to suffer Somalia’s fate. The region’s governments have acknowledged the depth of the coming crisis. Several have already mobilized the meagre resources they have on hand and asked for outside help. Donors are starting to engage, with Europe leading the way.

Early recognition provides us with an opportunity to avoid the mistakes of the past. Acting now could avoid a costly escalation that would put millions of people at risk of losing their livelihoods or losing their lives.

We are warned now about the impending tragedy in the Sahel. But will we act?

Find out more

Read Mark’s full op-ed article on thestar.com

Read more about the situation in West Africa

Peter’s shop is bustling with activity when we arrive. Clearly a central hub of the village and community, a group of men are chatting animatedly outside while Peter discusses business with a local fisherman inside.

I introduce myself and the team to Peter and he is at once telling us how happy he is to have more guests visiting him. “I am a celebrity here now,” he laughs. “Didn’t you know that Scarlett Johansson came here a few weeks ago?”

Peter shows us around his shop. The shelves contain everything from maize flour to ball point pens. Hanging centre stage are two photographs, one of Peter looking very stern and proud and another of the president of Kenya. Next door is his fish store. Outside he shows us the solar drier installed by Oxfam.

As the light starts to fade we prepare to take Peter’s photo. There must be at least 50 people quietly watching from the sidelines, giggling and pointing as Peter stands completely still holding up a fish, as if frozen. After each photo he grins back at us in the dark.

“People in this village see me as a role model as I gave birth to a new idea here of being a trader. Before my shop there were no other shops in the village and now when you look around you can see many. Twelve shops have opened here because I have shown them and taught them. People come to me for advice all the time and I help them. I am a pioneer and am proud to see that I have helped this village to start growing. I am happy that all of this has come from my idea of owning a business.”

From pastoralist to fisherman

Fishermen on Lake Turkana. Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

“I was born into a poor family and I grew up without going to school. Everything I have learned has been from others. My family were pure pastoralists but they were not always poor; my grandparents started experiencing difficulties when I was young. There was a lot of death in the livestock and people started becoming very poor, conflict started between pastoralists and that way of life became very dangerous. Slowly the pastoralist life has started disappearing because of the persistent droughts in this area. People must start to adapt.

“When I was young I started dreaming about owning my own business. I wanted to learn a new way of life and move to the lake. Many pastoralists came from the hills and settled here near Lake Turkana. At first this village was very small but over time it grew and grew. When I came here I had nothing and I didn’t know how to fish. I had to learn from other fishermen on the lake. I used to go to the lake and work on other fishermen’s boats. They would take me out on the lake and show me how to fish and how to use the nets. Eventually I saved enough for my own boat and my own nets.

“All of the fishermen used to wait until they had 3 bails of fish and then they would take them to the town. I remember doing this nine times and I nearly had enough money saved to open my business and stop fishing. When I went to the town for the tenth time I was really happy, all of my money was waiting for me there and I laughed so hard as I knew I could open up my business.

“But my happiness did not last. On the way home that day I was stopped by bandits and they took all of my money. It is the only time I can remember laughing and crying so much on the same day. I cried a lot as I knew I would have to continue fishing on the lake until I could save the money again. Eventually I managed to save it all again and I opened my business.”

Learning new trades

Peter Abwell now lends nets and boats to new fishermen. Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

“Now I want to support others and help them learn. I lend new fishermen nets and boats so that they can fish on the lake. Pastoralist families here are now adapting to a new way of life, they are fishing and learning new trades, and are starting to see the importance of education. They are sending their children to school so that they can improve their lives.

“If my wife was still here she would have been very supportive and given me lots of ideas, she was an enterprising woman. My wife helped me a lot in the beginning; we set up the shop from scratch.

“Sometimes when I go to sleep at night I dream that my wife is still here with us, of our family life before she died. I dream about her telling off the children and talking to me about the business. I have these dreams because I miss what used to be. When I wake up I realise it was just a dream and that she is gone. She died of Malaria in February this year. She was very sick and when I took her to hospital there was nothing they could do to help her. I cried all the time when she died. The whole family misses her.”

Fewer nightmares, but worries persist

“Two of my children start high school next year and I am currently preparing for the battle to find money to send them to university after that. I don’t want my children to be traders or fishermen. It was the best I could do for myself without an education but I want them to have good jobs elsewhere and live good lives.

“I used to dream that an enemy was coming from across the border and they were attacking the house. In the dream they broke my fence and stole all of my goats. A few months later nearly all of my goats died and I remembered this dream. I think my dream was a warning that my goats were going to die. I sometimes dream about lots of rain. That there are streams flowing and everything is washed away. I dream that I am on Lake Turkana. The winds are strong and my boat capsizes. Then suddenly I wake up and my heart is beating fast. If I dream about the winds being so strong I don’t go fishing the next day.

“I don’t have so many bad dreams now; I usually sleep and wake up without any dreams. Sometimes I dream about catching lots of fish and about my family. I worry a lot about my children and their future. I worry that the lake will become exhausted with too many fishermen.”

Fish from Lake Turkana: “Better than goat meat”

Peter Abwell with his solar drier installed by Oxfam. Photo: Alejandro Chaskielberg/Oxfam

“In the past traders used to come to the lake with their fish and sell it for very high prices and then they stopped coming altogether. That is when Oxfam really helped to stabilise the market again. The prices started to stay at a good level. Oxfam has really empowered our community and I would like Oxfam to continue supporting us so we can grow and our businesses can grow.

“I love fish. My son brings me fresh fish from the lake, it is much better than goat meat, fish is healthy and fresh.”

Read more

View Alejandro’s photo series, Turkana by Night

View a video of Alejandro in nocturnal photographic action

Find out more about the humanitarian crisis in East Africa

Now, on the eve of the 2012 African Cup of Nations, 25 footballers heading to the tournament have joined with Oxfam to call for early action to prevent disaster in West Africa. The footballers – including Mali and Barcelona star Seydou Keita, and Newcastle and Senegal striker Demba Ba – have begun a new campaign called “Let’s Tackle Hunger.”

The warning signs are already there. Poor rains across the Sahel region in 2011 have seen harvests drop by 25% (in some parts of Mauritania and Chad cereal production is down by as much as 50%). Food prices have almost doubled in many areas. Pastoralists are migrating to search for pasture much earlier than usual. A million children are at risk of severe malnutrition.

Governments in the region have already promised to develop national emergency plans and have asked for international assistance. But although serious, the crisis is not yet at the scale we have seen – and continue to see – in Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa. Which means that now is the time to act and make sure it doesn’t get any worse.

Launching the new campaign, Seydou Keita said: “If we act now we could save the lives of women and children who are always the first victims of food crises. If we act urgently, children will be saved from malnutrition and will have the chance to grow healthily and succeed at school.”

Footballers from four of the affected countries – Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Niger – have so far joined the campaign, also including Burkina Faso star Charles Kabore and Niger captain Lawali Idrissa. They have posed for special photos to draw attention to the crisis, and recorded videos that will be broadcast throughout the African Cup of Nations tournament, calling for an early response.

For the past six months we have seen haunting reports of starvation in the Horn of Africa. Oxfam’s Eric Hazard says similar scenes in West Africa are not yet inevitable – if we act swiftly: “We knew about this coming crisis months earlier than we have in the past, meaning we can act now to save lives and protect the livelihoods of many more people. This is why we are delighted that footballers across West Africa have spoken out in solidarity with their fellow citizens to call for early action to win the match against hunger.”

If there is another Dangerous Delay to the response, this time there will be no excuses.

In 2011, prolonged drought, poverty and conflict meant that parts of East Africa were facing the worst food crisis of the 21st century. It’s estimated that 12 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance.

Your generous support during this crisis has allowed Oxfam to reach 2.8 million people with humanitarian aid in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. This video is for you!

New report: A Dangerous Delay

A new report by Oxfam and Save the Children highlights the ways in which the international community must speed up their response to such crises. Thousands more lives and millions of dollars could have been saved if the international community had taken decisive action on early warnings signs of the food crisis.

Heeding early warning systems and taking prompt action will prevent similar disasters from escalating.

The report is especially significant now, as early preparation and mitigation work will prevent an impending food crisis in West Africa from spiralling out of control.

Find out more

Download “A Dangerous Delay”

Read more blog posts about the East Africa food crisis

The project will also involve the establishment of nurseries, where plants will be raised that other participants can grow in small gardens at their homes; as well as trees that people can plant near their homes in the hills above the city. Not only this will help families grow fruit, but they’ll be helping control erosion and flooding at the same time.

Carrefour Feuilles is home to about 300,000 people. It suffered some of the heaviest damage from the 2010 earthquake, and is still struggling to rebuild. This project is an important step towards recovery.

View the slideshow

When Oxfam’s Brett Eloff visited Haiti to photograph this project in action, people spoke to him about their hopes and expectations for these urban gardens.

[View with PicLens]

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Read more about our ongoing recovery efforts in Haiti since the earthquake