Rainfall across most of Sahelian West Africa picked up in July and market prices for cereals remain low, but the threat of floods, pockets of low rainfall and the possibility of rains stopping before October continue to menace the region, according to a report by the region’s main famine early warning system (FEWS NET).
The Sahel region is a semi-arid belt that stretches across the African continent and splits the Sahara desert from the more tropical sub-Saharan region. In West Africa, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad and parts of Senegal are all considered Sahelian.
The region has experienced widespread hunger since 2003. Two successive years of unusually poor rainfall during the annual rainy season slashed farmers’ crops, pushed market prices up and forced many families into debt. In 2004 crops throughout the Sahel were devastated by an invasion of locusts.
Good signs
But there are good prospects for a better growing season this year, according to a report distributed on Thursday by FEWS NET, an early warning project that includes United Nations agencies and donors.
In most of the Sahel, it rained enough in July to make up for poor rains in June, the group’s report said.
“If the rains continue to be regular, fast-growing seed are used and agricultural activities unfold as normal until the end of October, it will be possible to make up any delays,” it said.
FEWS NET also reported that enough vegetation has sprung up in the main pastoral regions to feed the thousands of hungry cattle driven into the region every year. Cattle-breeding is one of the main livelihoods in the Sahel.
And a separate bulletin released this week by the Regional Centre for Agro-meteorology, a Nigerien FEWS NET partner, also said there is no threat of major locust invasions in Mauritania, Niger or Mali this year, although some breeding is expected.
Pockets of concern
But there is still cause for concern.
The FEWS NET group warned that if strong rains continue, the region risked flooding and crop damage.
Severe flooding has already been reported in parts of southern Mauritania, northern Niger and in Burkina Faso. Last year, flooding was a problem particularly in Senegal.
But this year, the FEWS NET report warned that there are pockets of northern Senegal and eastern Niger that have experienced rainfall deficits.
A separate report released by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on 8 August warned that Niger is the country most affected by unequal rainfall. It highlighted the regions of Maradi, Zinder and Diffa as most at risk, and said over 400 villages have failed to start planting because of delayed rains.
The FEWS NET report also said low levels of groundwater have been recorded in parts of eastern Niger close to the border with Nigeria, the south east of Mauritania near the Mali border, and small pockets of Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali.
It added that because of the slow start in June, rains would have to continue well into the harvest season in October before success can be declared.
Market prices below average
FEWS NET also monitors the cost of basic products in markets in the region. As families start buying staple products on the markets when their reserves from the previous year’s harvest run out, prices can have a major impact on seasonal hunger.
Last year, previously unheard of peaks in cereal prices combined with high debts and poor reserves from the previous years’ poor harvest was believed to be one of the main causes of widespread hunger in the region. According to FEWS NET, this year prices have so far stayed within seasonal norms.
“Compared to the average for the last five years in the same period, the price of grain in July 2006 is lower than average in all the markets in the Sahelian capitals,” the report said.
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The Sahel region is a semi-arid belt that stretches across the African continent and splits the Sahara desert from the more tropical sub-Saharan region. In West Africa, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad and parts of Senegal are all considered Sahelian.
The region has experienced widespread hunger since 2003. Two successive years of unusually poor rainfall during the annual rainy season slashed farmers’ crops, pushed market prices up and forced many families into debt. In 2004 crops throughout the Sahel were devastated by an invasion of locusts.
Good signs
But there are good prospects for a better growing season this year, according to a report distributed on Thursday by FEWS NET, an early warning project that includes United Nations agencies and donors.
In most of the Sahel, it rained enough in July to make up for poor rains in June, the group’s report said.
“If the rains continue to be regular, fast-growing seed are used and agricultural activities unfold as normal until the end of October, it will be possible to make up any delays,” it said.
FEWS NET also reported that enough vegetation has sprung up in the main pastoral regions to feed the thousands of hungry cattle driven into the region every year. Cattle-breeding is one of the main livelihoods in the Sahel.
And a separate bulletin released this week by the Regional Centre for Agro-meteorology, a Nigerien FEWS NET partner, also said there is no threat of major locust invasions in Mauritania, Niger or Mali this year, although some breeding is expected.
Pockets of concern
But there is still cause for concern.
The FEWS NET group warned that if strong rains continue, the region risked flooding and crop damage.
Severe flooding has already been reported in parts of southern Mauritania, northern Niger and in Burkina Faso. Last year, flooding was a problem particularly in Senegal.
But this year, the FEWS NET report warned that there are pockets of northern Senegal and eastern Niger that have experienced rainfall deficits.
A separate report released by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on 8 August warned that Niger is the country most affected by unequal rainfall. It highlighted the regions of Maradi, Zinder and Diffa as most at risk, and said over 400 villages have failed to start planting because of delayed rains.
The FEWS NET report also said low levels of groundwater have been recorded in parts of eastern Niger close to the border with Nigeria, the south east of Mauritania near the Mali border, and small pockets of Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali.
It added that because of the slow start in June, rains would have to continue well into the harvest season in October before success can be declared.
Market prices below average
FEWS NET also monitors the cost of basic products in markets in the region. As families start buying staple products on the markets when their reserves from the previous year’s harvest run out, prices can have a major impact on seasonal hunger.
Last year, previously unheard of peaks in cereal prices combined with high debts and poor reserves from the previous years’ poor harvest was believed to be one of the main causes of widespread hunger in the region. According to FEWS NET, this year prices have so far stayed within seasonal norms.
“Compared to the average for the last five years in the same period, the price of grain in July 2006 is lower than average in all the markets in the Sahelian capitals,” the report said.
sa/nr/cs/ccr
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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