Farmers and forecasts

SAHEL: Malian refugees risk being “forgotten”

DAKAR, 28 March 2012 (IRIN) - Mali is facing its “worst humanitarian crisis for 20 years” due to a combination of food insecurity affecting around three million people, and conflict-induced displacement in the north. full report

WEST AFRICA: Giant anti-polio drive threatened by insecurity

DAKAR, 23 March 2012 (IRIN) - Health volunteers, aid agency and health authority staff are trying to immunize 111.1 million children under five across 20 countries in West and Central Africa against polio. The four-day campaign started today, but instability in some of the target countries could hamper the effort. full report

NIGER: Drought does not mean death of pastoralism

DIFFA REGION, 22 March 2012 (IRIN) - Having spent a fruitless day in search of pasture in the searing heat, about 20 worried and exhausted Fulani pastoralists from Niger near the southeastern edge of the Sahara lie under the stars and mull their future. The next rains and green pastures are still another four months away - or maybe not, mused one of them - “only Allah knows”. full report

NIGER: Nassamu Malan, “This year is also looking bad”

FOUDOUK, 6 March 2012 (IRIN) - Years of successive drought in the Sahel have driven millions of people to despair and death. Even the normally adaptive nomads, who range this southern fringe of the Western Sahara Desert, are finding life extremely difficult. full report

NIGER: Malian refugees flee to hunger zone

GAOUDEL/TILLABERI, 27 February 2012 (IRIN) - No babies cry and the children are not even curious about the presence of strangers. “It is hunger and they are shy - they are not used to strangers,” explained one of the mothers, who is among a couple of thousand Malians who have crossed into southwestern Niger and sought refuge in the windswept village of Gaoudel, Ayorou District, after fleeing clashes between Malian government troops and Tuareg rebels. full report

MALI: Refugee, IDP numbers rise as fighting continues in north

DAKAR, 24 February 2012 (IRIN) - Refugee numbers are rising daily in countries bordering Mali as fighting rages between the Malian army and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), which is fighting for greater autonomy for the Tuareg. full report

NIGER: Diffa traders hit by Nigerian border closure

DIFFA, 20 February 2012 (IRIN) - For generations, Diffa, the arid southeastern corner of Niger, has benefited from being closer to Nigeria than to commercial centres in Niger: Staple grains, fuel, clothing and other items at attractive prices have made their way across the border. full report

SAHEL: Displaced Malians burden food-insecure hosts

BAMAKO/DAKAR, 6 February 2012 (IRIN) - Some 12,000 Malians have fled fighting in the towns of Ménaka and Anderamboucane in northern Mali and reached already food-insecure villages around Tillabéri in western Niger, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Niger’s capital, Niamey. full report

SAHEL: Donors learning funding lessons - slowly

DAKAR, 6 February 2012 (IRIN) - This year donors are stepping up more quickly to meet Sahel’s humanitarian needs compared to 2010, when they were slow to respond. However, they are still at fault for taking a quick-fix approach rather than addressing long-term disaster prevention and resilience needs, say aid groups. full report