National Catholic Reporter provides a good, brief overview of the food crisis facing the Sahel region of West Africa:
Imagine being very hungry almost all the time. Imagine telling your children to wait until the end of the day to eat a very small meal. Imagine eating every other day. Imagine not eating at all.
Very sadly, more than 18 million people in West Africa’s Sahel region — an area between the Sahara Desert and the African tropics — do not have to imagine severe hunger. They are either experiencing it or getting very close to it.
The article quotes Bill Rastetter, Catholic Relief Services’ country representative in Niger:
“Few people have more than the minimum, and many don’t have even that. There will be no one answer for the entire region (Sahel), or even one country. The results will vary, and many people will continue to be in need.”