Millions at risk in the Sahel food crisis

In the Sahel region of West and Central Africa, families are facing a grim reality. A food crisis is now threatening more than 18 million people. Without help they won’t get enough to eat.

Drought, poor harvests, the lingering effects of an earlier food crisis in 2010, and high prices in the market are part of the problem — and so is poverty. It forces farmers and herders to make impossible choices: if they sell their tools and livestock now, to get money to get food, then how will they make a living later when the rains return?

Oxfam aims to help more than one million people weather this crisis. We are working with them on irrigation, market gardens, cash transfers and cash-for-work initiatives, veterinary care for the livestock on which many families depend, and access to clean water and sanitation.

We produced this infographic to show the latest information about who’s affected and where, Oxfam’s response, and how you can help.

West-Africa-infographic-0512 — The West Africa food crisis at a glance

Please share the infographic with others, tweet about it, blog it, pin it – and help us raise awareness about a crisis that’s not making enough headlines.