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At least five million in Sahel facing food shortages: UN

09 December 2011 02:30 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Meagre rains and diminished harvests have left between five and seven million people in Africa’s Sahel region facing food shortages, the United Nation’s World Food Programme said Thursday, APA reports quoting AFP.

"The crisis is already here, all we can do is try to mitigate its impacts on the population," said Thomas Yanga, regional head of the food programme’s west Africa operation.

Yanga said the countries of Niger, Mauritania, Mali and Chad were worst hit.

"The number varies between five and seven million people who are, right now, in a situation of food insecurity and needing help," he said at a news conference in the Senegal capital Dakar.

The Sahel is a band of desert stretching across north Africa.

Yanga noted that livestock and harvest declines had coincided with surging food prices.

Faced with the crisis, some countries such as Niger and Mali put together response plans in coordination with the World Food Programme, but other areas were still carrying out surveys to find out the possible impacts on their populations, Yanga said.

"Drought is here," he said, while urging governments to buy seed and fertiliser for the next growing season. "The best we can do is meet the immediate needs of the populations."