Sahel (ICRC) – As the ongoing food crisis worsens as a result of conflict, more than 10.5 million people in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Mauritania are at risk of starvation in the approaching inter-harvest period, when food supplies remain particularly scarce.
At least two million people in the four countries have been displaced by conflict. 70% of these are in Burkina Faso, where nearly 10% of the population (1.8 million people) have had to flee their homes in search of security
These people, who were already surviving with difficulty, find themselves in an extremely vulnerable situation after becoming displaced. Deprived of their land and thus unable to live by farming or herding, entire communities become totally dependent on humanitarian assistance, especially for food and water.
Of particular concern is the plight of millions of people in the region who remain in areas too dangerous for humanitarian organizations to operate. The people of some areas and towns, such as Pama, Mansila, Kelbo, Madjouari and Djibo in Burkina Faso, are the hardest hit. They are increasingly cramped and unable to flee, with their own particular food crisis.
The region, which is experiencing the adverse effects of climate change, is also suffering the worst drought in decades. Record low rainfall – comparable to the long drought of 2011 that killed many thousands of people – has caused severe crop failure.
Niger and Mauritania produced 40% less food than the five-year average, Mali 15% less, and Burkina Faso 10% less. In Mauritania, biomass production was reduced by 80% in areas affected by natural fires and drought.
Conflict as a major cause of declining food security
Over 80% of people in the Sahel live on agriculture. When violence engulfs a region, people are often forced to flee, which means they are unable to plant their land, cultivate crops or harvest crops, putting entire communities at risk of severe malnutrition or even starvation.
In Mali’s Liptako-Gourma region, where three national borders converge, more than a hundred villages have lost 80% of their cultivable land, all crops have been destroyed, and people have been forced to flee. Our monitoring of crops harvested in Yatenga and Loroum provinces in Burkina Faso showed that they were reduced by 90%.
In the northern regions of Burkina Faso, between 30% and 50% of cultivated land has been lost due to security threats, and in Niger, in the Tilabéry and Tahoua regions, hundreds of thousands of people have been left destitute as agricultural land has become inaccessible due to the threat of violence and entire villages have been displaced.
The situation is exacerbated by water scarcity
In Burkina Faso, the water crisis has become a national problem. In some conflict-affected regions, water points are being destroyed, while in other places people’s daily lives have been severely affected by the collapse of water infrastructure.
Armed violence and conflict have also disrupted traditional routes for the seasonal movement of livestock to new pastures, an integral part of pastoralism or nomadic livestock production. Mauritanian pastoralists used to regularly migrate to Mali in search of pasture and watering places. Armed violence has cut off these routes, jeopardizing the survival of livestock and thus the pastoralists’ ability to sustain their livelihoods.
Out-of-the-box solutions are needed
Of particular concern is the plight of hundreds of thousands of people trapped in areas of the Sahel inaccessible to the ICRC and other humanitarian organizations due to security threats and unable to get out. “Humanitarian aid must be delivered to all those in need and distributed in a way that reduces, not exacerbates, tensions. Humanitarian organizations must be able to operate freely and safely in such places,” said Patrick Yousef.
Together with other parts of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the ICRC is scaling up its activities across the region to help those most in need. The ICRC is also looking for longer-term solutions to help people in these countries adapt to climate shocks and the effects of protracted conflicts and learn to survive in the circumstances.
On 12 May 2022 in Abidjan, on the margins of the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP15), the ICRC will co-host an event with the African Development Bank on how to break the cycle of food insecurity in Africa.