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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Giving to East Africa on the wane: agency

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 09/27/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

The generosity that prompted Canadians to donate close to $70 million to the food crisis in East Africa last year has withered this year as people go hungry in West Africa's Sahel region, says the executive director of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

"The response to the crisis in Sahel has been less than East Africa," said Jim Cornelius. So far, Canadian aid agencies report there's been close to $2 million raised.

"The numbers of people in Sahel is greater than East Africa and the needs are as significant," said Cornelius.

"The sort of level of engagement, of the response by the public, is quite different."

Aid agencies are trying to figure out why, and are making special efforts to bring it to the attention of the public, he said. And the clock is ticking.

Ottawa announced earlier it will match Canadian donations until the end of September dollar for dollar.

Drought, poor harvests, rising food prices, population displacement and insecurity have contributed to the food and nutrition crisis in the region.

The Sahel, which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, includes Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia and northern Cameroon, some of the most-affected countries.

While farmers here on the Canadian Prairies are expecting bumper crops this fall, grain bins in the Sahel remain empty, said Cornelius, who visited the region in May.

"This is an area that's highly vulnerable to weather patterns changing," he said. "There are high levels of hunger and food prices are extremely high."

Help is needed now, said Cornelius.

"There's still a lot of suffering and still a lot of hunger."

For more information, go to www.foodgrainsbank.ca .

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 27, 2012 B4

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