KEY DEVELOPMENTS · In general, food security conditions in most of the Sahel have stabilized and are expected to improve to No Acute Food Insecurity—Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) 1—in October and November, according to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). Nonetheless, FEWS NET notes that ongoing flooding and increasing numbers of desert locusts remain significant threats and could reduce this year’s agricultural production in some areas. Continuing insecurity and related displacement could also prompt above-average food assistance needs in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger in early 2013.
· To date, floods—resulting from heavy seasonal rains in parts of the Sahel—have affected or displaced approximately 21,000 people throughout Burkina Faso, 25,000 people in northern Cameroon, 500,000 people in Chad, 9,000 people in Mali, and 527,000 people in Niger, according to international media and relief agency sources.
· In Senegal, flooding triggered by severe rainfall since mid-August has affected more than 260,000 people, according to a recent U.N. rapid assessment of the country’s flooded areas. On September 13, U.S. Ambassador Lewis A. Lukens declared a disaster due to the effects of the floods. In response, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) is providing $50,000 to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for flood-relief activities in affected communities, including a hygiene awareness campaign and the provision of supplies such as mosquito nets, boots, and pumps to help remove standing water.
· To date in FY 2012, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided more than $378 million in humanitarian assistance to the Sahel for agricultural and livelihoods interventions, direct food aid, assistance to displaced individuals, and logistical and humanitarian coordination support.