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| Burkina Faso: portraits of poverty and hope, by Olivier Kugler | Burkina Faso: portraits of poverty and hope, by Olivier Kugler |
| (8 days later) | |
| Earlier this year, this year Valerie Amos, the head of the UN's humanitarian and emergency relief programme, warned that a combination of failed crops, locust plague, high food prices, conflict, chronic levels of poverty and drought meant more than 18 million people were facing hunger across eight countries in west Africa, including the Sahel region. More than a million children under five are at risk of severe malnutrition. | Earlier this year, this year Valerie Amos, the head of the UN's humanitarian and emergency relief programme, warned that a combination of failed crops, locust plague, high food prices, conflict, chronic levels of poverty and drought meant more than 18 million people were facing hunger across eight countries in west Africa, including the Sahel region. More than a million children under five are at risk of severe malnutrition. |
| This part of the continent is no stranger to suffering. The Sahel, the wide strip of land that separates the desert sands of the Sahara from the less arid southern savannas, contains some of the poorest countries in the world: Niger ranks 186th out of 187 on the UN Human Development Index, Chad 183rd and Burkina Faso – from where award-winning reportage artist Olivier Kugler, who drew these pictures, recently returned – 181st. | This part of the continent is no stranger to suffering. The Sahel, the wide strip of land that separates the desert sands of the Sahara from the less arid southern savannas, contains some of the poorest countries in the world: Niger ranks 186th out of 187 on the UN Human Development Index, Chad 183rd and Burkina Faso – from where award-winning reportage artist Olivier Kugler, who drew these pictures, recently returned – 181st. |
| Average earnings are around $300 a year. In Burkina Faso, 166 children in every 1,000 die before reaching the age of five (in the UK, the corresponding figure is six). Less than 29% of the population is literate. | Average earnings are around $300 a year. In Burkina Faso, 166 children in every 1,000 die before reaching the age of five (in the UK, the corresponding figure is six). Less than 29% of the population is literate. |
| The situation now is acute. Crop yields in Mauritania and Chad have fallen by 50% compared with 2011. Food reserves are already low, and corn prices are 60-85% higher than the averages of the past five years; in Chad alone, 3.6 million people are affected. A desert locust infestation, the worst since 2005, further theatens the crops, food security and livelihoods of some 50 million people in Mali, Chad, Mauritania and Niger, while heavy rain over the summer has led to widespread flooding in some parts of the region, including Burkina Faso, where 15% of the population or some 2 million people – including tens of thousands of refugees from Mali – are estimated to be at risk from hunger. | The situation now is acute. Crop yields in Mauritania and Chad have fallen by 50% compared with 2011. Food reserves are already low, and corn prices are 60-85% higher than the averages of the past five years; in Chad alone, 3.6 million people are affected. A desert locust infestation, the worst since 2005, further theatens the crops, food security and livelihoods of some 50 million people in Mali, Chad, Mauritania and Niger, while heavy rain over the summer has led to widespread flooding in some parts of the region, including Burkina Faso, where 15% of the population or some 2 million people – including tens of thousands of refugees from Mali – are estimated to be at risk from hunger. |
| Kugler visited Burkina Faso with Oxfam, whose Food Crisis in Sahel appeal is seeking to raise some $66m for food, clean water and vital assistance. The artist went to the village of Tafgo, north-east of the capital, to see a seed distribution programme, to Sirgum gold mine near the town of Kaya, and further north towards the border with Mali to Mentao refugee camp. | Kugler visited Burkina Faso with Oxfam, whose Food Crisis in Sahel appeal is seeking to raise some $66m for food, clean water and vital assistance. The artist went to the village of Tafgo, north-east of the capital, to see a seed distribution programme, to Sirgum gold mine near the town of Kaya, and further north towards the border with Mali to Mentao refugee camp. |
| See his illustrations here | See his illustrations here |
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