As the food crisis in Niger and Burkina Faso worsens, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development has been helping in the combat against the severe famine by sending grants of £100,000 to its partners in the region.
The region is suffering severe hunger and starvation after a plague of locusts left last year’s crops ruined and a severe drought brought in the "hungry season" months before the next harvest is due.
According to the U.N. up to 3.6 million people are now affected by the food crisis, with around 150,000 children at serious risk of death.
CAFOD director Chris Bain said: "Once again lives will be lost needlessly to hunger. It is completely unacceptable that people in the 21st century cannot afford to eat everyday and it is a moral outrage that people should die of starvation due to the lack of a few million dollars."
Mr Bain also criticised the international community for not responding sooner to the crisis, which was already foreseen last year: "Due to the lack of prompt international response to the initial situation in Niger and Burkina Faso, CAFOD partners together with other aid agencies working in the region are now facing working with people facing a needless disaster."
He continued: "This waste of precious life is exactly what the Make Poverty History campaign is working to extend forever."
In a press release today the UK Government pledged an extra £1 million aid to the famine-stricken region, in addition to the £2 million already promised in aid. This amount is equivalent to 17.5 per cent of the U.N’s more than US$30 million appeal and will feed an extra 200,000 people for a month.
