En af verdens mest plagede regioner – både af natur- og menneskeskabte katastrofer – har fået regn, masser af regn, men det skaber blot nye problemer for millioner af fattige bønder og dermed udsigten til mad på bordet.
DAKAR, 14 September 2012 (IRIN): An active monsoon and above normal temperatures triggered heavy downpours and flash floods during this year’s rainy season across West Africa and the Sahel, killing hundreds of people, displacing hundreds of thousands more and devastating (ødelægge) farms in some of the countries already hit by a severe drought and acute food shortages.
Rainfall more than 150 percent above normal from late July to late August lashed southeastern Mauritania and neighbouring regions in Mali, Senegal, northern Burkina Faso, Mali’s Niger river basin, Lake Chad basin in Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, the World Meteorological Organization said.
“There are not reliable data yet on how harvests will be affected, but the floods will affect agricultural production,” said Al Hassan Cissé, Oxfam International’s regional food security advocacy coordinator for West Africa.
In Niger, rice growing fields along the River Niger are flooded, and more than 7.000 farms have flooded, Cissé said, adding: “The predicted good harvest in Niger will have to be scaled down because the floods will have a great impact on the riverine regions.”
USAID’s Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) had in August predicted good harvests in Niger following “extremely good rainfall”.
However, with the floods, FEWS NET said rice production in Tillabéry region northwest of the capital Niamey would be affected. Refugees and food-insecure host populations in Tillabéry will continue to require food assistance in March 2013.
The flooding has displaced around 525.000 people and killed 81 others in Niger. Aid organizations have rallied to help those in need with food, shelter, water and emergency health care. In Tillabéry, 79.740 people have been affected, the highest number of all the eight areas hit by the floods.
Dams on the River Niger have reached their highest water levels in 29 years, prompting the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency to issue an immediate evacuation notice for people living along the river plains.
At least 137 people have been killed by floods and more than 35.000 others displaced in Nigeria since July. In 2011, 102 people were killed by floods in one week in southwestern Nigeria.
Around 25.000 people have been rendered homeless in Cameroon’s North and Far North regions due to the torrential rains that breached a dyke and flooded some six villages in the Far North region.
Those affected have sought refuge with host families and in schools, which are expected to reopen soon, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.
Limited impact on harvests
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