Scottish Catholic Observer

The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) has pledged £100,000 in emergency aid to help people affected by the growing crisis in the Sahel region of west Africa.

The extended drought there has lead to rocketing food prices and widespread poverty have leaving an estimated 18 million people hungry with 1.5 million children facing starvation.

Lorraine Currie, SCIAF’s head of international programmes, said the money was a vital response a ‘growing crisis’ that had to be stopped before ‘we start to see people dying in large numbers.’

“A deadly mix of drought, high food prices, extreme poverty and conflict has left an estimated 18 million people hungry in Sahel,” she said. “An estimated 1.5 million children are facing starvation. Many families are simply so poor they cannot afford to buy any food. The £100,000 pledged by SCIAF for aid in Nigeria and Senegal will help to provide 39,000 people with cash and vouchers for food or emergency rations. Working with our partners on the ground, a further 25,000 people will receive drought resistant seeds, training and small loans so they can become self-sufficient again in the longer term. This is a growing crisis. We need to do all we can to help before.”

SCIAF is supporting the work on the ground being co-ordinated by its sister agencies in Caritas Internationalis, the global network of Catholic aid and development organisations.

The emergency response in northern Nigeria will receive £50,000 which will help to provide 14,000 people with cash payments and vouchers for food. A further £50,000 for Senegal will help to provide 25,000 people, including children under five years and pregnant and lactating mothers, with food.

Pic: An ill and hungry child in the Sahel region

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