World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

WFP has launched an emergency operation to deliver life-saving food assistance to thousands of people fleeing conflict in Mali. As refugees stream into areas already strained by drought in the Sahel, it's imperative to reach them with assistance in time for the summer Hunger Season.

The influx of over 32,000 Malian refugees has made an already fragile situation in Burkina Faso worse. Their arrival has put pressure on arid regions, where access to water and food is always difficult. 

For the third time in a decade, drought in the Sahel region of Africa is threatening millions of people with hunger. But how do people survive in these situations and what are we doing to help them? Here are the answers to eight questions about the current hunger crisis in the Sahel and WFP's response to it.

Following erratic rains and poor harvests, Burkina Faso is among the Sahel countries currently facing a food and nutrition crisis. 

For the third time in a decade, drought has returned to the Sahel region of West Africa bringing hunger to millions of people across the region. WFP is pre-positioning food assistance ahead of the annual lean season when the vulnerable – especially women and children – are most at risk of malnutrition.

Patricia is 42 years old and has been living with HIV for 10 years. She is now receiving food assistance through WFP, essential for effective antiretroviral treatment.
 

 WFP organised a training session on food security and nutrition for 25 local journalists. Along with two sessions with WFP specialists, the journalists were lead to visit the nutrition activities in a health center supported by WFP.  

The Ambassador of France in Burkina Faso Emmanuel Beth visited WFP nutrition and school feeding activities in the Sahel region alongside WFP Country Director Angelline Rudakubana and others from the WFP Burkina Faso team.

In early September, WFP nutrition focal points and their government counterparts from 18 countries across West Africa gathered in Dakar for a four-day workshop.