World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

In the African nation of Senegal, malnutrition rates are high, especially in rural areas where there are fewer basic services. Natural disasters and high food prices have contributed to food shortages for many families in Senegal. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reports that “The post-conflict region of Casamance is particularly vulnerable, with poverty rates among the highest in the country.” Hunger and poverty threaten the 2004 peace agreement signed between Senegal’s government and the separatist movement MFDC after two decades of conflict in the Casamance.

In Senegal's Casamance region one youth remains missing five days after armed men attacked a group of people collecting cashews, one of the region's main cash crops. (..) Poverty levels in Casamance are among the highest in Senegal at more than 60 percent, with nearly half of households vulnerable to food insecurity, according to a UN World Food Programme (WFP) 2007 study.

[...] Hoping to take advantage of high global food prices that brought many poor nations to the brink of chaos last year, farmers across West Africa are reaping what experts say is one of the best harvests in recent memory. But after investing and borrowing heavily to expand their production, these farmers also run the risk of being wiped out as global food prices plummet.