ReliefWeb

1. Summary

NEEDS REMAIN HIGH

Food security and nutrition in the Sahel have improved somewhat since the acute crisis in 2012, following better rains and harvests. However, the effects of the recent crisis are not so quickly erased.

Assessments, trend analysis and price monitoring in 2013 suggest that the food security and nutritional situation remains precarious for the most vulnerable and crisis affected populations in the Sahel. Over 11 million people across the region continue to live in food insecurity. Five million children under five and pregnant or lactating women remain at risk of acute malnutrition, particularly in high risk areas such as Northern Mali and among Malian refugees in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger. Cereal prices remain very high: in some areas as high as 50 per cent more than the five year average.

As crises in the Sahel become more frequent, families are forced to increasingly adopt negative coping strategies to deal with the stresses. For example children are taken out of school, less quality food or seeds are consumed and animals are killed for sale that might have been intended for reproduction. These negative coping strategies have long-term consequences which cannot be reversed with one good harvest.

Conflict and insecurity continue to affect several Sahel countries, negatively impacting market trade and the access to and the quality of basic services. Moreover, one million people remain displaced, as internally displaced or refugees, living in camps or with host communities.
Furthermore, ahead of the approaching the rainy season, activities related to the prevention, preparedness and response to possible floods and epidemics of cholera and other waterborne diseases now need to be accelerated.

FOCUS ON REGIONAL COHERENCE

The 2013 Sahel Strategy provides a summary of humanitarian needs, as articulated in the consolidated appeals (CAPs) of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger and in the humanitarian strategies of Cameroon, The Gambia, Nigeria and Senegal. The strategy aims to present a common approach that includes: a shared regional situation analysis, common regional strategic goals and objectives, and performance indicators and systematic monitoring that provides evidence-based needs and gaps analysis.

At mid-year, the objective of the original 2013 Sahel Strategy remain valid: to respond to the ‘triple crisis’ currently affecting the Sahel: i) the continued humanitarian impact of acute food security and nutrition crisis of 2012; ii) the underlying chronic nature of food insecurity, malnutrition and the erosion of resilience in the region; and iii) the on-going current Mali crisis, which has resulted in the significant displacement of IDPs within the country and an exodus of refugees to neighbouring countries.

ADDITIONAL AND MORE BALACED FUNDING IS NEEDED

As of 30 June, activities covered by the 2013 Sahel Strategy have received US$1 607 million.
Several sectors remain largely underfunded, including Education, Agriculture under food Security,
Health, Protection and WASH. Balanced funding among sectors remains essential to enable complementarity and to support a comprehensive response.

Following the mid-year review, requirements have been revised to $1.72 billion, leaving $1.1 billion to be raised for 2013.