Independent Evaluation of CARE’s response to the 2011 – 2012 Sahel humanitarian crisis

The Sahel region of West Africa has experienced a severe food and nutrition crisis for the third time
in seven years. Irregular rains, limited crops, high food prices and a drop in migrant worker’s
remittances due to the conflicts in Libya, Nigeria and Mali have put people’s resilience to the test.
The failed rains of the last year left many farmers and pastoralists without their main income and
source of food: crops have withered, livestock died of thirst and hunger. As a consequence, many
people had to revert to measures such as eating the seeds spared for planting, selling emaciated
livestock for low prices, using saved assets to buy food that has become more expensive or taking
their children out of school to help earning an income.
In August 2012, the UN estimated that some 18.7million people were in need of humanitarian
assistance in nine countries, with more than one million children at risk of starvation and another
three million are facing malnutrition in the Sahel1
. As food sources run out women turn to gathering
and selling firewood as an alternative income and walking long distances alone puts them at risk of
violent attacks. The conflict in Mali has displaced more than 440,000 people and created a severe
humanitarian crisis in the northern regions of the country. For security reasons humanitarian
organizations such as CARE had to suspend operations in the north of the country, leaving thousands
of people without assistance. Almost 70,000 Malians fled to neighboring Niger, putting more stress
on already vulnerable households and host communities. Even in years which are not overshadowed
by drought, the countries of the Sahel have some of the highest rates of food insecurity and
malnutrition. One child in five dies before it reaches the age of five years and 30 percent of these
deaths are due to the lack of food and water2
Countries like Niger, Chad and Mali are some of the
poorest in this world, ranking lowest in the Human Development Index published yearly by the
United Nations³