Sahel Crisis: 8 Questions Answered Published on 04 April 2012 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 s ituations 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. Copyright: WFP/Shannon Howard 1. Why are people going hungry in the Sahel? The rains only come once per year in the African Sahel and last year, they were patchy and late. That’s a recipe for disaster in a part of the world where most people live on what they can grow. When the rains don’t come on time, harvests fail, animals die and people start going hungry. 2. Which countries have been hit by the drought? The drought is affecting a huge swath of territory that covers parts of Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Gambia, Cameroon and northern Nigeria. 3. In addition to drought, what other factors have l ed to a food crisis in t he Sahel? Bad harvests this year have driven up the price of food at a time of year when it’s usually more affordable. High fuel costs and pest in festations haven’t helped. Huge Humanitarian Needs The humanitarian needs in the Sahel region of West Africa are huge and the time for action is now. WFP and partners have launched a regional response to reach more than 9 million people with food assistance. Malnutrition threat: WFP plans to provide special food assistance to 1.45 million of the children most in need, using products such as Plumpy’sup to prevent malnutrition. Q&A: See what our nutrition team in West Africa say in this Q&A 4. How do small farmers survive when they don’t grow enough food? During hard times, families will often sell land or animals in order to buy food. That’s called a “negative coping strategy” because it leaves them poorer and more likely to go hungry in the long-term. When they run out of things to sell, families have little choice but to move to the cities or abroad i n search of work. 5. Are droughts common in the Sahel? Yes and they’re becoming even more common with climate change. This is the third drought to hit the Sahel in less than a decade. Particularly in Niger, many families haven’t yet fully recovered from the last drought in 2010 and have even less to fall back on now than they did then. 6. How is the situation in the Sahel this year different from droughts in the past? Whereas droughts in 2005 and 2010 were felt most in Niger and parts of Chad, the food crisis this year is unfolding across the entire region, from Chad in the east all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover,