'Food crisis worsening in Sahel region' - Thousands of people along the border between Niger and Burkina Faso are being forced to leave their homes in search of food as a result of the deepening food crisis in the Sahel region of Africa, international charity Christian Aid reported Friday.

The charity said it had sent a task force to northern Burkina Faso to develop its programme of emergency feeding in one of the worst affected areas.

As a result of failed rains and widespread drought, Mali lost 11.8 percent of total cereal output between 2010 and 2011, while in Burkina Faso it is estimated that 41.47 percent of the country will face severe food insecurity.

In Niger, the government believes that more than half of the nation’s villages are now running out of basic food.

Families in the Sahel were also being affected by the recent conflicts in Libya and Cote d’Ivoire as relatives are no longer able to send money home from these countries.

The most recent joint evaluation by the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWNET), conducted in January 2012, estimates that 5,458,000 people in Niger are food insecure, including 1,324,000 who are at severe levels.

In Mauritania, 700,000 people – over one quarter of the population - are food insecure, including 290,000 people at severe levels in rural areas; and 1,671,178 people are vulnerable in Burkina Faso.

Results of evaluations are expected soon in Mali, Chad and Senegal, but WFP and FAO estimate that 3,000,000 people in Mali and 850,000 people in Senegal live in areas at risk, while earlier evaluations in Chad estimated that 13 out of 22 regions could be affected.

Overall, the European Commission estimates that at least 7 million people will need support over the next six months.

Pana 04/02/2012