Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Africa: Cattle dying, fields scorched as drought strikes
Senegal
by Staff Writers
Wodobere, Senegal (AFP) May 18, 2012
In the northeastern nook of Senegal, one of the most stable and
developed nations in the drought-hit Sahel region, carcasses of
cattle lie in the sun, the fields have withered and food depleted.
As scanty rains wreaked havoc across the belt, hitting
drought-weary Chad, Niger, Mali and other countries, this west
African hub is struggling to provide food to its people and entire
villages are going hungry.
"The shepherds and people have told us they feel as if they have
been left to their own devices," said famed Senegalese singer
Baaba Maal, who last week toured the Matam region from where he
originates.
In Wodobere, a town of about 6,000 people skirting Mauritania,
Maal -- an ambassador for British charity Oxfam -- called for
urgent aid to avert famine as he toured the region, listening to
the concerns of villagers and giving concerts.
Crops have failed across eight countries after late and erratic
rains in 2011, and aid agencies have raised the spectre of a food
crisis bigger than the one which left millions starving in 2010.
This is the third drought in the Sahel in a decade, and while the
previous ones were felt mostly in Niger and parts of Chad, this
year it has unfolded across the entire region.
In Mbelogne, a hamlet where most of the 450 residents survive off
animal husbandry, its chief Ely Hamady Diallo said: "There are
problems both with food and water, for people and for the
animals."
Here a cow carcass lies on the cracked, scorched earth. Emaciated
cattle lie in the shade, too weak to lift themselves. The only
well, some two kilometres from the village, is nearly dry.
"We can't even respect tradition and offer you some cold milk. My
cow died because she didn't have anything to eat or drink," said
Yacine Diallo, holding her daughter in her arms.
"We have nothing left," said Diallo, who came to Mbelogne to see
Maal, adding that the situation is the same in her nearby village
of Ndouloumadji.
In another village named Dolel, chief Mamadou Gaye does not
complain about the drought, but calls for water pumps, machines to
irrigate the land and proper health infrastructure.
Patrick Ezeala, who works with Oxfam in the region, said the food
crisis is currently affecting 800,000 people in Senegal.
As the country struggles to feed its 13 million inhabitants, it
imports basic goods such as rice, forcing the prices up.
"Twenty million people (in the Sahel) are threatened with famine
because of a lack of rain, climate change, and the flare in the
prices of basic goods," said Maal after a concert in Wodobere
which attracted several hundred people.
"In a few months' time, the worst could unfold in front of our
eyes. We need to act now," he said, calling on authorities and
international organisations to intervene and avoid a worst-case
scenario.
Fatouma Sow and Penda Ndiaye came decked up for the concert, and
after singing and dancing they reflected on the message of one of
the country's most respected artists.
"He spoke of a food crisis, it concerns us too. Before a kilo of
rice cost 250 CFA francs, now it is 350 CFA francs (0.53 euro
cents, $0.67). Here, it is hard for everyone," said Sow.