Food crisis

Inoussa Sawadogo is a farmer in the district of Kaya in Burkina Faso. Photo credit: Samuel Turpin/ Oxfam

Investing in family farming to end hunger crises in West Africa

Oxfam is urging West African states to double their investment in the agricultural sector to meet their 2014 target and to better support family farms and rural communities in order to break the cycle of hunger. The call comes amid the worst food and nutrition crisis in West Africa in a decade and...

Ramata is a herder in Burkina Faso. Because of the lack of rainfall, she has no food for her livestock.Credit photo: Gery Barbot/ Oxfam

West Africa faces its worst food crisis in ten years, with over 27 million people already suffering from hunger

An additional 11 million people could be pushed to hunger just over the next three months. West Africa is hit by its worst food crisis in a decade, with 27 million people going hungry. This number could rise to 38 million this June - a new historic level and already an increase by more than a third...

Idrissa Ouedraogo is a farmer in the central north region of Burkina Faso. Because of the lack of rainfall, his millet, maize and bean crops have dried up. Photo credit: Cissé Amadou/ Oxfam

Tough, urgent choices for African leaders as they launch “Year of Nutrition” to help millions of people facing hunger

African governments should boost funding for agriculture, address peace and security challenges, and do more to genuinely tackle inequality. African Union leaders face one of their most important summits (Feb 5-6) in launching a “year of nutrition” amid worsening levels of hunger and malnutrition...

In Ouagadougou, people marched for climate justice as COP26 was taking place in Glasgow. Credit: Gery Barbot/ Oxfam

2021 : A Year of Fighting Inequality in West Africa

The year 2021 is ending with its share of challenges for the people of West Africa : insecurity, climate change, the food crisis, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of commitment from governments to reduce inequality which has widened the gap between the richest people and the rest...

Plagued by poverty in the Amma IDP site, Achta holds up the ingredients she is cooking for her five children. Photo credit : Mahamat Ibrahim Saleh/ Oxfam

Between June and September 2022, 33 million people in the Sahel and West Africa could be in a food and nutrition crisis

In July 2021, we raised the alarm about the staggering 67% surge in hunger, continuing to be one of the fastest growing hunger crises in the world. Almost 6 months later, 23.7 million people are still in need of immediate assistance in the Sahel and West Africa. If nothing is done, this number...

Picture taken in a market in Bangassou. Credit : Adrienne Surprenant/ Oxfam

Mali: Alarming food crisis leaves 1.2 million hungry

The number of Malians facing hunger has increased nearly threefold in one year, warns a coalition of 22 humanitarian organisations working in the country. The triple impacts of rising insecurity, droughts and Covid-19 have plunged a record number of 1.2 million people into a food crisis in 2021.

Maiga Abdoulaye Belko, facilitator at the Association pour la Gestion de l'Environnement et le Développement (AGED). Credit : Cissé Amadou/ Oxfam

Our Partner's Corner : Entire Families Trapped Between Conflict and Hunger

Let's take a trip to Dori, in the northeast of Burkina Faso. Capital of the Sahel region, its population has exploded in recent years with the arrival of internally displaced people. In a never-ending atmosphere of civil insecurity, entire families have fled their homelands to seek refuge in Dori...