Crop failures, returning migrants, weather patterns threatening to worsen malnutrition in Africa's Sahel, Horn regions

"Sahel states are bracing for a long, potentially deadly hungry season, many weakened by the return of people from Libya who are unemployed, armed and creating fresh strife in already-vulnerable countries," Agence France-Presse reports. "Crops have failed across a massive swathe of eight countries after late and erratic rains in 2011, and aid agencies have raised the alarm of a food crisis bigger than that which left millions hungry in 2010," according to the news agency (Blandy, 2/11). In an article examining hunger among children in Mauritania, Inter Press Service writes that "other countries in the Sahel ... are affected as well: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and the northern regions of Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal," adding, "Twelve million people will soon suffer severe food insecurity and hunger in this region, aid agencies warn" (Palitza, 2/10).

In related news, IRIN reports, "The climatic conditions linked to the drought in the Horn in 2011 have persisted, and some early warning officials say the aid community should brace themselves for a possible re-run of last year's food crisis." The article looks at the effects of the La Niña weather pattern on rainfall in the region (2/10).