Tools to tackle a food crisis
As hunger swept the Sahel, Oxfam launched programs to help 1.3 million people.
A food crisis in 2012 ensnared more than 18 million people, many with severe consequences. Hundreds of thousands of families cut back their meals to just one a day, and the lives of more than one million children were at risk. At the peak of the crisis, parts of Mauritania, Mali, and Chad were only one step above a famine designation.
With the warning signs mounting, Oxfam launched a 16-month intervention—from November 2011 to March 2013—using all of the techniques it has honed over decades of emergency response. As part of a major international effort to save the lives and livelihoods of countless farmers and herders in the Sahel, Oxfam raised more than $48 million to help 1.3 million people in seven countries with cash-based interventions, food, water and sanitation services, and steps to boost the ability of families to support themselves.