Hunger in Sahel worsens as ‘lean season’ begins: ‘The worst is yet to come’

Posted on 14 Jun 2012 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Football legend Raul Gonzalez, Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), learns while speaking to goat herders in Chad that protecting people’s livestock is essential for preventing them from falling into the danger zone during the current food crisis. Livestock will also be essential, the people say, for helping them to … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Food Security / Pastoralism / Vulnerability / West Africa

Extreme hunger in East Africa and the Sahel: Building response systems that work

Posted on 26 May 2012 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

Arid soils in Mauritania, where crops have failed because of a severe drought and the Sahel region faces a major food crisis: Over 700,000 people are affected in Mauritania and 12 million across West Africa (picture credit: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam International). Senegalese singer Baaba Maal has visited Mauritanian communities at the center of the current food crisis … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / Event / Food Security / Mali / Niger / Pastoralism / Vulnerability / West Africa

Recurrent drought can encourage, not kill, pastoralism

Posted on 25 Apr 2012 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Pastoralists take their livestock to sell at a market in Moussoro, Bahr El Ghazal Province, in northern Chad. In 2012 countries across the Sahel region are once again facing a serious food crisis. This ecologically fragile region is becoming increasingly vulnerable to insufficient rainfall, and fluctuating animal and food prices that are affecting millions of pastoral … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Food Security / Mali / Niger / Opinion piece / Pastoralism / Vulnerability / West Africa

Flawed global food systems–not drought–cause of African famines

Posted on 30 Jan 2012 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Foods of Khulungira Village, in central Malawi (clockwise from top left): nsima (maize meal porridge), kachewere wophika (boiled potatoes), nkhuku yophika (chicken stew), nkhwani ndi phwetekere (pumpkin leaves with tomato), kachewere wokazinga (fried potatoes), and kholowa ndi phwetekere (sweetpotato leaves with tomato) (photo credit: CGIAR/Stevie Mann). All names in Chichewa, Malawi’s national language; translations by Christopher … Continue reading →