DAKAR (AlertNet)- Time is running out to tackle a massive loss of livestock in west Africa that could heighten existing food insecurity and push thousands into poverty, Oxfam International has said.
Erratic rainfall in Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali and northern Nigeria has caused a drop in fodder estimated at 60 to 80 percent in some countries.
"If we donÂ?t act in time, we risk high levels of livestock mortality and people risk finding themselves in absolute poverty without any means of survival," Mohamed Ali Ag Hamana, OxfamÂ?s Niger based regional pastoral programme manager told AlertNet in a telephone interview.
More than 76 million people live in West AfricaÂ?s Sahel region, an area wedged between the Sahara desert and forested parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Over a third depend on livestock farming for their livelihoods.
"When people have their sheep or cattle, they can sell these to obtain revenue which would enable them to buy cereals, milk and other food needs," Hamana said.
The Famine Early Warning Systems (FEWSNET) has predicted that by next April declining food stocks, rising cereal prices, and falling livestock prices will reduce household purchasing power in the region.
"High food insecurity will then spread to the poor in pastoral Mali and agro-pastoral Chad through July and deficit agricultural households in Niger through August," the FEWSNET report said.
Authorities in Niger have appealed for international support to provide agro-industrial animal feed to supplement a deficit of 16 million tonnes of fodder needed for its livestock. They have also encouraged livestock breeders to migrate in quest of pasture, a process that normally occurs in April-May.
"What is worrying today is that they are encouraging mobility in to other countries where the situation is the same," Hamana said.
Five districts in the north of Mali are facing the same problem while northern Nigeria is threatened by possible drought . Herds there are already crossing into Niger for pasture.
"There is a risk of increased inter-communal conflicts between farmers and grazers and even between grazers," Hamana said.
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