AFRICA : MAURITANIA : 12 MILLION AT RISK OF DROUGHT

Agenzia Fides REPORT - The majority of the inhabitants of Douerara, a small town located about 800 kilometers east of Nouakchot, the capital of Mauritania, live in an area surrounded by sand and rocks in Sahel. Because of the drought, since early February, nearly six months before the expected arrival of the next rains, the population do not have food, crops have been destroyed and people are forced to buy rice on credit, but has neither meat or milk. In addition to Mauritania, other Sahel countries like Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and northern regions of Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal, are in the same plight. According to humanitarian agencies, twelve million people suffer severe food insecurity and hunger. Mauritania, which has the very few drinking water reserves in the world, is one of the nations most affected. A third of the population is already at risk of hunger. According to nutrition experts of the local health department of Kiffa, a small town in the south-west, the situation is very serious, especially for younger children. Every week more and more people come to the clinic for help. Insufficient milk and food, and people constantly struggle to survive, especially younger children. Food crisis can cause the death concerning 60% of malnourished children, but the figure for this year could be even greater, because the region has not yet recovered from the severe drought of 2010. Sahel is a region in permanent crisis, living the state of chronic food insecurity. Even during a "normal" year half of all children under 5 years of age suffer from chronic malnutrition. Statistics exceed the threshold of 10%, the limit state of emergency. To aggravate the situation in Mauritania and other countries of the region, there has been the dramatic rise in food prices, while those of livestock, which constitutes the main value in the region has dropped dramatically. On roads one sees skeletons of cattle that died of hunger or thirst. The southern region of Hodh el Gharbi, is one of the hardest hit of Mauritania. The population’s health is deteriorating rapidly. Since 2000, the crops have continuously decreased due to scarce rainfall which have become increasingly unpredictable. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 21/2/2012)

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