WFP says 6 million people in Sahel are hungry – VivAfrik

William Affif, coordinator of emergency responses for the Sahel of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), argued that in the five Sahelian countries (Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali), "six millions of people need immediate food assistance, which is 40% more than in 2017 at the same time. "

According to him, apart from the Sahel, part of sub-Saharan Africa still suffers from hunger, pointing out that successive droughts make food production insufficient and fragile. Feed the population through a series of solutions: more fertilizer, granaries, irrigation, improved seeds … The region can also rely on available arable land reserves, says the UN official.

William Affif, technical and logistical solutions exist to develop agriculture in such arid areas. First goal, according to experts, the reduction of food waste. This may seem paradoxical, but a big part of the harvests in this part of the world is lost, poorly stored, attacked by rats. Or destroyed by lack of transportation or cold chain in working order. "There are needs for the construction of community granaries or individual granaries based on containers that preserve crops," says Affif

Agricultural productivity also depends on fertilizer purchased or produced locally. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has financed a network of biodigesters for Mali, which produce compost and biogas from animal excrement and biomass, for 11,000 households in Mali, said Stéphane Mousset, director of Fida. [19659005] Urban agriculture

This also involves innovative solutions. In southern Burkina Faso, the city of Bobo Dioulasso has developed an original experience of urban agriculture. "After 10 years, it can be said that 80% of the inhabitants of Bobo Dioulasso became farmers, with the development of market gardening, arboriculture, small livestock, and now beekeeping," said Soumaïla N'Diaye , engineer responsible for local development in the commune

Above all, Africa can rely on available land reserves, estimated at 220 million hectares. But according to agronomist Pierre Jacquemot, the potential is not infinite: "No, Africa is not this reservoir of arable land that makes dream more than one, agronomist or land speculator." And to add "Many lands that are supposedly vacant, because they are registered in land titles, are in fact used by local populations for their survival (gathering, harvesting firewood, hunting). According to him, "it is necessary to remove land theoretically available, protected forests, fallow land, meadows devoted to grazing, transhumance."

Degradation of soil

Other threat, land degradation: erosion due to droughts and floods, salinization of soils due to poorly controlled irrigation

A study by the European Union shows that in Africa "more than 50% of the agricultural area is today affected by climatic variations and human activities … ", says geographer Michael Cherlet.

Despite these challenges, the OECD and the FAO believe that a" strong growth of agricultural production "can be achieved in sub-Saharan Africa, with a 30% increase in by 2027 vegetable production and 25% of meat production.

Increase in production

Sub-Saharan Africa will experience a "general rise in productivity" with the u use of "fertilizers, pesticides, improved seeds and mechanization and irrigation technologies", according to the Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027 report presented by the two international institutions. This growth will be accompanied by an "expansion of the area cultivated for corn, soya and sugar cane."

However, this growth in agricultural production will not always be sufficient to ensure food security in the region because of "growing consumer needs due to population growth."

Moctar FICOU / VivAfrik