Millions of people did not get the seeds and farm tools they needed last year, and many remain vulnerable to hunger, report says
LONDON (AlertNet) - The humanitarian response to the 2012 food crisis in Africa's Sahel region was bigger and better than in previous emergencies, but millions of people still did not receive the assistance they needed and many remain vulnerable to hunger, Oxfam said in a report on Tuesday.
The international charity urged the aid community to step up help for governments and communities in the region to prepare better for the drought-driven food crises that have hit west Africa three times since 2005.
David Macdonald, Oxfam's regional director, warned against complacency in the face of the consensus that last year's emergency response managed to stave off the worst of a food crisis that still affected some 18 million people across nine countries.
"The first thing we need to do is recognise that the crisis is not over yet. Millions of poor families still struggle to buy enough food to eat as food prices remain high and conflict is still disrupting markets in the region," he said, referring to the violence that has added to humanitarian needs in Mali over the past year.
"We need to radically change the way we respond to these recurrent crises to both save lives and put people on a better footing to withstand this cycle of hunger," he added.
The report said that more than 5 million people received food aid from the World Food Programme alone in 2012, and more children were treated for malnutrition than ever before.
Lives were saved because early warning systems worked well, governments in the Sahel called for support early on, and some donors, especially the European Commission, released funds quickly, the report added. Aid agencies also responded in a timely manner.
But 5.6 million people missed out on the seeds, tools and fertiliser they needed to plant crops and prepare for the next harvest, leaving them at risk of further food shortages, the report said.
Disagreement over how severe the crisis would be led to some delays in the response, and only half the requested funding had been provided when the crisis approached its peak in July, it added.
TACKLING INEQUALITY
Some 10 million people in the Sahel still urgently need help to feed their families and rebuild their livelihoods, the report said. But a $1.7 billion 2013 U.N. appeal for the region is only a quarter covered.
Oxfam called on the international community to deliver "swift, sufficient and sustained" aid. But governments, donors and aid agencies must also get better at preventing and managing future crises, it said.
"It is vital to increase investment in small-scale agriculture, local and national food reserves, and social protection programmes, as well as scaling up efforts to prevent and treat undernutrition," the report said.
Important areas for action include breaking down the barriers between humanitarian and longer-term development programmes so they support each other better, and strengthening the ability of national and local governments and organisations to respond quickly.
But perhaps the toughest challenge of all lies in reducing the longstanding inequalities that make the poorest people - especially women - much more vulnerable to hunger crises and exclude them from the benefits of economic growth, the report said.
"Helping the Sahel’s poorest communities escape the vicious cycle of hunger and poverty will be no easy task in the face of enormous challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, population growth, urbanisation and growing insecurity ... But it can and must be achieved, and 2013 provides a critical opportunity for a breakthrough," the report said.
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