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ORGANISATIONS PARTICIPATING IN CONSOLIDATED APPEALS DURING 2006:

AARRECAASAAABSAbt AssociatesACF/ACH/AAHACTEDADRAAfricareAGROSPHEREAHAANERAARCIARMAVSICADICAMCARECARITASCCFCCIJDCEMIR Int’lCENAP

CESVICHFICINSCIRIDCISVCLCONCERNCOOPICORDCPARCRSCUAMMCWDCADRCEMSFERMEQUIPFAOGAA (DWH)GH

GSLGHDOHIHISAN - WEPAHorn ReliefINTERSOSIOMIRCIRDIRINJVSFMALAOMCIMDAMDMMENTORMERLINNANNANRCOA

OCHAOCPHODAGOHCHRPARACOMPARCPHGPMRSPRCSPSIPURFEPSADOSC-UKSECADEVSFCGSNNCSOCADIDOSolidaritésSPSTF

UNAIDSUNDPUNDSSUNESCOUNFPAUN-HABITAT UNHCRUNICEFUNIFEMUNMASUNODCUNRWAUPHBVETAIDVIAVTWFPWHOWVIWRZOARC

Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP)

The CAP is much more than an appeal for money. It is an inclusive and coordinated programme cycle of:

Strategic planning leading to a Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP); Resource mobilisation (leading to a Consolidated Appeal or a Flash Appeal); Coordinated programme implementation; Joint monitoring and evaluation; Revision, if necessary; and Reporting on results.

The CHAP is a strategic plan for humanitarian response in a given country or region and includes the following elements:

A common analysis of the context in which humanitarian action takes place; An assessment of needs; Best, worst, and most likely scenarios; Stakeholder analysis, i.e. who does what and where; A clear statement of longer-term objectives and goals; Prioritised response plans; and A framework for monitoring the strategy and revising it if necessary.

The CHAP is the foundation for developing a Consolidated Appeal or, when crises break or natural disasters strike, a Flash Appeal. Under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator, the CHAP is developed at the field level by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Country Team. This team mirrors the IASC structure at headquarters and includes UN agencies and standing invitees, i.e. the International Organization for Migration, the Red Cross Movement, and NGOs that belong to ICVA, Interaction, or SCHR. Non-IASC members, such as national NGOs, can be included, and other key stakeholders in humanitarian action, in particular host Governments and donors, should be consulted.

The Humanitarian Coordinator is responsible for the annual preparation of the consolidated Appeal document. The document is launched globally each November to enhance advocacy and resource mobilisation. An update, known as the Mid-Year Review, is to be presented to donors in July 2006.

Donors provide resources to appealing agencies directly in response to project proposals. The Financial Tracking Service (FTS), managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is a database of donor contributions and can be found on www.reliefweb.int/fts

In sum, the CAP works to provide people in need the best available protection and assistance, on time.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...............................................................................................................1

Table I:Requirements, Commitments, Contributions and Pledges per Appealing Organisation and per Sector.3

Table II:List of New & Revised Projects – By Sector...........................................................................................4

2. THE COMMON HUMANITARIAN ACTION PLAN........................................................................52.1 THE CONTEXT AND ITS HUMANITARIAN CONSEQUENCES...........................................................5

Agriculture...................................................................................................................................... 5Food security................................................................................................................................. 6Nutrition......................................................................................................................................... 8Health............................................................................................................................................ 9

2.2 SCENARIOS........................................................................................................................... 10

2.3 STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE..........................................................11

2.4 RESPONSE PLANS................................................................................................................. 11

ANNEX I.ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................................15

PROJECT SUMMARY SHEETS ARE IN A SEPARATE VOLUME ENTITLED “PROJECTS”

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The food security and nutritional crisis that affected a number of Sahelian countries in 2004-2005 highlighted once again the high level of vulnerability of the region’s populations, which stems from a combination of adverse events and structural factors, and impact the risk of infectious disease outbreaks as well as the population's psycho-social well-being, especially that of children and women. This vulnerability stems from a combination of economic and structural factors. Initiatives to address this situation in the long term are ongoing, but in view of the fragile outlook for the food security situation in certain areas of Sahelian countries during the 2006 lean season it will also be necessary to respond to short- and medium-term needs in an effective and well-coordinated manner.

In spite of good results of the 2005/2006 harvests, the situation in certain areas of the Sahel is of great concern. Joint assessment missions in early December revealed that as early as March 2006, or June 2006 at the latest, households will be at risk of having a major food access problem again.1 The mission underlines that the favourable results of the 2005/2006 harvests should not obscure the very heavy carry-over of food and asset deficit from last year. With very limited food production, high livestock mortalities, and record high prices for millet and other cereals, 2004 had long-term consequences on household assets and savings, on levels of indebtedness, and on the health and nutritional status of the population.

The record high prices for cereals in 2005 induced a major negative income effect on already impoverished households, and will constitute a very heavy burden in terms of debt repayment in 2005/06. In Niger, a sack of millet borrowed in the late spring of 2005, for instance, required at least 2.5 to 3 sacks of millet as repayment by October of the same year. Considering the deep and widespread indebtedness accumulated in 2004, the reduction of the food stocks available to households at the beginning of the 2005/06 marketing year will be considerable.

An important aspect of the 2005 crisis was the very critical nutritional situation of young children. The crisis has been referred to as “an unprecedented nutrition crisis in children”. From September to November 2005 the United Nations Chidren’s Fund (UNICEF) conducted a series of rapid nutrition assessments in Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania as well as in-depth reviews of national surveys in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. The assessments and reviews show that in these countries there is a severe nutrition crisis in children that crosses borders; malnutrition is implicated in 52% of child deaths. In other words, half the child mortality burden in these countries is due to malnutrition in children (280,000 child deaths are attributable to malnutrition each year).

According to UNICEF, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad all registered acute malnutrition rates for 6-59 months old above the 15% critical emergency threshold defined by the World Health Organization (WHO); Mali and Mauritania have acute malnutrition rates above 10% defined by WHO as a threshold for a ‘serious situation.’ The aggregated prevalence of acute malnutrition for all five countries is 15.2%. The above-cited facts demonstrate that the highly publicised nutrition crisis in Niger is only one representative sample of a region-wide nutrition crisis in children that requires an urgent and effective regional response.

During the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) that led to the formulation of a Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) for West Africa for 2006 it was agreed that since the level of food and nutrition assistance needed in the Sahel during 2006 could not be estimated prior to assessments in October and November 2005, an action plan and projects related to the food and nutritional needs in these countries should only be finalised upon completion of analysis after the harvest.

In mid-January the revision process began and in February and March the four Country Teams in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger as well as Regional Offices of the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF and WHO have reviewed the situation in consultation with concerned Governments and are hereby appealing for funds to cover humanitarian activities in the Sahel during the remainder of 2006.

1 From October 21 to November 4, the Government of Niger, FAO, and WFP (regional and country offices), CILSS/AGRHYMET, FEWSNet, and an observer from the US State Department’s bureau for humanitarian affairs carried out a preliminary assessment of food supply and food security. This was followed by a high-level visit to Diffa, Zinder, Maradi, Tahoua and Dosso Regions, and focused more specifically on the location and number of vulnerable communities (villages à risque). Report is available at www.fao.org. See also FAO/GIEWS Global Watch “Niger Assessment – Putting the 2005/06 Season in Proper Context” of 7 December 2005 (available at http://www.fao.org/giews/english/shortnews/niger051207.htm#r1).

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This document is a revision of the geographical cluster covering the Sahelian countries included in the West Africa Consolidated Appeal for 2006. The new projects’ funding requirement of US$ 91,942,5942

therefore needs to be added to the (slightly revised) requirements of the original appeal, currently at $152,060,937. The revised total requirements for the West Africa Consolidated Appeal Revision for 2006 will thus amount to $244,003,531 (or 152,060,937+ 91,942,594).

ABOUT THIS APPEAL REVISIONWhen developing the revision at hand, humanitarian actors have taken into consideration the difficulties encountered in trying to establish a consensus on the humanitarian situation in the Sahel in 2005 which ultimately impacted the quality of the response, its timing and the way in which targeting was decided upon. To avoid a similar situation in 2006 it was felt that the largest possible range of experience and expertise should be drawn upon and a wide consultation take place to allow for a better dialogue and less discrepancies in readings of the situation.

In line with the above, in November 2005 humanitarian, development, governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) met in Dakar for a two-day conference on the Sahel3. The meeting took place within the framework of an ongoing regional consultative process involving all stakeholders and provided a platform where a diversity of views were expressed and a rich dialogue established among key stakeholders by revisiting past and current initiatives in the Sahel; delineating new ideas to be tested against a variety of national perspectives; and by generating a joint action plan for the Sahel that may contribute to the development of pragmatic policies and practical responses to reduce poverty, strengthen coping capacities in times of food crises, address acute humanitarian needs and improve overall human security in the Sahel.

In Ouagadougou in March, the Comité Inter-Etat de Lutte contre la Secheresse (CILSS) co-organised with OCHA and UNDP a follow-up meeting which allowed for national, regional, governmental and non-governmental actors to discuss the appeal and ways of strengthening complementarity between emergency response and initiatives undertaken within the framework of more long-term capacity building.

It should also be noted that the choice of countries for inclusion in this appeal revision is not based on the criteria of deficit in food production, but rather on the malnutrition problems faced during the lean season. The high levels of malnutrition registered in 2005 were caused by a complexity of factors that went beyond food production, such as access to food, potable water, sanitation / health facilities, diseases, weaning practices, and others. Another important element was the degree of indebtedness of food insecure households. Moreover, pastoralists have been hard hit by the crisis during the 2005 lean season. High cereal prices and falling animal prices in the most affected areas have led to some households having to liquidate assets in the face of these harsh terms of trade, and countries covered in this revision addendum include those which pastoralists have faced a severe situation in 2005, needing assistance throughout the 2006 lean season.

2 All dollar figures in this document are United States dollars. Funding for this appeal should be reported to the Financial Tracking Service (FTS, fts@reliefweb.int), which will display its requirements and funding on the CAP 2006 page.3 See http://ochaonline.un.org/westafrica for report from the meeting and copies of the presentations carried out.

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Table I: Requirements, Commitments, Contributions and Pledges per Appealing Organisation and per Sector

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Table II List of New & Revised Projects – By Sector

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2. THE COMMON HUMANITARIAN ACTION PLAN

2.1 THE CONTEXT AND ITS HUMANITARIAN CONSEQUENCES

AgricultureIn October/November 2005, a joint CILSS/Government Crop Assessment Missions in the nine CILSS member countries provisionally estimated aggregate cereal production in the Sahel at some 15 million metric tonnes (MTs), about 34% above last year’s desert locust and drought-affected output and some 31% above the average for the last five years.4 According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this together with good harvest prospects in most coastal countries including Nigeria, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire, point to a satisfactory food supply situation in the region during marketing year 2005/06.

However, the severe food crisis that struck the region in 2004/05 has had serious income and livelihoods effects and resulted in depletion of household assets, high levels of indebtedness and nutritional deterioration for large segments of the population notably in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania. In addition, the food stocks of traders, households, village, cereal banks and the national emergency reserves have reached very low levels.

One of the lessons learned from the crisis in 2005 is also that food vulnerability in the Sahel is not so much about availability of food but rather about access to food. As underlined by Famine Early Waning System (FEWS) Net, it is an aggravating factor that, in spite of the positive results of the harvest, the exceptional rise in prices in 2005 will take more than one good harvest to bring back to normal levels and food prices remain slightly above their five year average.

As such, the good perspectives for the availability of food do not exclude the existence of localised areas or social groups vulnerable to food insecurity and close monitoring of critical areas and of markets will be necessary in 2006.5

Table: Cereal production and deficit in 2005/06 for the Sahel (in 1000 tonnes) Source: FAO and WFP6

MarketingYear

2005 Cereal production7 2005/06

Country Total

As % of Cereal import Anticipated

DeficitAverage of Requirements8 CommercialPrevious Imports5 years    

Burkina Faso Nov./Oct. 4,028 136 241 229 12Cape Verde Nov./Oct. 4 27 107 84 23Chad Nov./Oct. 1,917 157 104 51 53Gambia Nov./Oct. 247 137 147 137 10Guinea-Bissau Nov./Oct. 180 142 82 72 10Mali Nov./Oct. 2,846 113 272 242 30Mauritania Nov./Oct. 171 146 318 277 41Niger Nov./Oct. 3,717 126 323 291 32Senegal Nov./Oct. 1,488 149 1,021 1,010 11Total Sahel   14,598 132 2,615 2,393 222

By country, the agricultural situation can be described as follows according to the FAO:

In Burkina Faso, favourable weather conditions since May resulted in a record cereal crop this year. The pest situation has been on the whole calm and pasture conditions are good. A recent CILSS/Government mission provisionally estimated this year’s cereal production at 4 million MTs, an increase of 40% over the drought and desert locust-affected crop of 2004. This, in addition to favourable crop prospects in neighbouring countries, should result in improved household access to food in 2005/06. However, this year’s severe food crisis resulted in depletion of household assets

4 Source: FAO/GIEWS: Africa Report No.3 - December 2005 available at www.fao.org5 FEWS Net: La situation alimentaire s’annonce globalement satisfaisante au Sahel en 2006 - available at fews.net.6 figures reflected in this table are estimates from November. Confirmed figures as of March 2006 are available from the Comité Inter-Etat de Lutte contre la Secheresse au Sahel (CILSS) on www.cilssnet.org7 including rice in milled equivalent.8 Excluding re-exports.

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including high livestock mortalities and indebtedness, notably in the northern part of the country. Income generating and asset reconstitution initiatives are recommended to support livelihoods in the affected communities.

In Mali, the food supply position in 2006 is anticipated to improve reflecting a good cereal harvest in the country and across the region. A joint FAO/Government mission has estimated aggregate production by at 3.1 million MTs, some 14% above the five years average. Output of millet, the most important cereal crop, is estimated to have increased by some 30% to 1.1 million MTs. However, production would have been much higher if fertiliser use had not been reduced this year due to its high price and limited availability, notably on rice in Office du Niger, San and Tombouctou.

Like several other Sahelian countries, Mali faced a severe food crisis characterised by unusually high food prices in 2005. The crisis that was triggered by cereal and pasture shortages across the sub-region resulted in depletion of household assets including livestock and high level of indebtedness, particularly among pastoral and agro-pastoral groups. In spite of the good harvest at national level, income generating and asset reconstitution activities are recommended to support livelihoods in the affected communities.

In Mauritania, cereal production is expected to increase in 2005 after several years of poor harvests, which have gradually eroded the rural population’s coping strategies and led to a very difficult food situation this year. A recent CILSS/Government Crop Assessment Mission provisionally estimated 2005 cereal production at 203,000 MTs, some 77% above last year’s desert locust ravaged crop and about 43% more than the average of the previous five years.

However, Mauritania is a food–deficit country whose domestic cereal production covers about half of the country’s utilisation needs in a normal year and food prices are strongly influenced by the exchange rate of the Ouguiya. Moreover, several consecutive years of crop failure and the very high food prices observed across the Sahel this year have had severe negative impact on household incomes and assets for large sections of the population. Therefore, vulnerable groups need to be continuously monitored and assisted as necessary, particularly during next lean season.

In Niger, the cereal availability is anticipated to improve in marketing year 2005/06. Favourable conditions this year resulted in an increase in cereal harvest of some 36% compared to 2004 according to official sources. A joint FAO/WFP/CILSS/FEWS Food Security Assessment Mission that visited the country from 14 October to 4 November observed that pastures were abundant countrywide, reflecting ample rains in the pastoral zones. The good crop, together with the good harvest prospects in neighbouring countries which usually export cereals to Niger, notably Nigeria, Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso, presages a globally satisfactory food supply availability and reasonable prices during marketing year 2005/06. Consumer prices of millet have dropped by over 50% compared to the highest levels reached in July/August.

It should be noted that the average price of cereals is higher than the last five years average, which show the tension on the markets. The most vulnerable populations will have more and more difficulties to access cereals as we enter the lean season.

However, the severe food crisis that hit the country in 2004/05 has uprooted large segments of the rural population, had serious income, livelihoods and nutritional effects and resulted in depletion of household assets, including loss of animals, and high levels of indebtedness.

Food securityIn the Sahel there is a close connection between food insecurity stemming from structural causes and food insecurity with contingent causes. As pointed out by the Vulnerability and Mapping Unit (VAM) of the WFP’s Regional Office in Dakar structural food insecurity is primarily a result of massive poverty.

The populations in the Sahel most vulnerable to contingent food insecurity are the rural populations living in zones where agricultural and/or livestock production is uncertain due to low levels of average rainfalls and its strong variability and where alternative sources of revenue are limited.

As we enter the lean season, the outlook for the Sahel remains precarious. Many of the households in Niger, Mali, and Mauritania were forced to take on debts in 2005 to feed their families during the 2005 lean season. Even though the 2005/06 harvests was good, many of these households will have to sell

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a significant portion of their harvest to repay these debts. In these countries, the 2006 lean season, now starting much earlier than in normal years, will be very difficult. Even if no major shock occurs, households will have to use their usual coping strategies when their cereal stocks will be exhausted, including the search for labour, sale of animals, loans and requests for kinship support. However, because these coping mechanisms have already been stretched to the limit in 2005, their reliability and sustainability will be decreased in 2006, resulting in more migration of household members in search for labour, more sales of animals and more debts.

In Niger, according to the Ministry of Agricultural Development, 1.8 million people would "risk food insecurity" here in 2006. The WFP-led emergency food insecurity survey (EFSA) confirms the Ministry of Agricultural Development's prevision with 1.2 million people seriously food insecure, 2 million people moderately food insecure and 1.9 million people at risk of losing their livelihoods. It is partly explained by insufficient production in some agro pastoral zones that were affected by the 2005 crisis, due to the migration of men out of their village of origin in search for jobs or selling their livestock on markets to buy food. Households are led to reimburse loans taken to buy cereals. These debts are to be reimbursed after the harvest, which explains why large quantities of cereals are sold while prices are relatively low on the market. Prices of cereals are much higher during the lean season, as their availability is scarce for the households' consumption.

The national early warning system estimated in January 2006: 1046 villages in agricultural and agro pastoral zones are classified as very vulnerable with an

estimated population of 1,001,797 persons. Most of these villages are located in the regions of Dosso (15.9%), Tillaberi (15.9%) and Tahoua (6.6%);

701 villages of the same zones are rated as moderately vulnerable with an estimated population of 863,753 persons. The most affected regions are Tillaberi (14.9 %), Tahoua (10.2%), Dosso (8.6%) and Agadez (7.8%);

356 villages of these zones are slightly vulnerable with a population of 329,429 persons.

In Niger, the severity of the 2005 lean season was the result of long standing chronic food insecurity in the country due to several structural factors. These include: one of the highest population growth rates in the world; widespread poverty; desertification; unequal land distribution in some regions; poor soil quality; lack of knowledge of good agricultural practices; recurrent drought; animal diseases, lack of knowledge of proper animal raising and care practices, very low education and qualification levels; low status of women; inadequate provision of potable water and sanitation services; and lack of primary health facilities. Combined with these factors, the late-season drought and locust infestation have led to levels of food insecurity and mortality that exceed emergency thresholds in a number of communities in Niger’s pastoral and agro-pastoral areas.

Although the overall 2005 harvest was good in most areas of the country, Niger is recovering from one of the worst lean seasons known in years, and the outlook for pockets registering little or no harvest remains precarious. Niger shows an overall net cereal surplus of 21,000 MTs for the 2005/06 harvests, compared with a deficit of 223,500 MTs last year. The harvest did not have a clear effect on admission rates at therapeutic feeding centres for malnourished children, as one would expect. Furthermore, many households have sold a significant portion of their harvest to pay the debts they were forced to take on to feed their families. For these indebted farmers and the areas that did not benefit from a good harvest, the 2006 lean season has now already started.

In addition to WFP’s recent EFSA, other assessments were carried out such as WFP’s Comprehensive Food Security Vulnerability Assessment, the UNICEF/CDC/Government nutrition survey, the WFP/UNICEF/WHO joint nutrition planning mission, the FEWS-Net Niger Livelihood Profile, information from the Government’s Early Warning System and an After Action Review in which all stakeholders participated. All of these have served as the basis for the elaboration of WFP’s new Protracted Relief and Rehabilitation Operation (PRRO) for Niger (1 April 2006 – 31 December 2007).

The UNICEF/CDC/Government nutritional survey and WFP’s EFSA were purposely carried out at the same time and with the same sampling frame to better illustrate the relationship between food security and nutrition. The results showed that poverty resulting in a lack of access to food is only one of multiple underlying causes of the high rates of malnutrition in Niger. There is not only inadequate access to food in terms of quantity, but also in terms of quality, which is reflected in high levels of micronutrient deficiencies. Other causes of malnutrition in Niger can relate to structural problems such as poor health and sanitation, early marriage of girls, inadequate weaning practices, population

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growth, high poverty rates, low education levels, lack of access to health care and insufficient child care.

The importance of these non-food causes of malnutrition underlines the need for complementary initiatives in the health, water, sanitation, feeding practices and care sectors. For many malnourished children, while food support will contribute to their nutritional recovery it will not be sufficient to maintain a proper nutritional status in the long term if these other factors are not addressed.

The main actor in the field of food security in Niger is the National Food Security Mechanism (DNPGCA). The National Food Security Mechanism was set up in 1998 under an agreement signed between the Government of Niger and donors. The National Food Security Mechanism has a mandate for the prevention and management of food crises and it is the main forum for discussions on food security initiatives and for coordination of emergency response.

In Mali, the 2005 lean season was characterised by lack of rain, locust infestation and a sharp deterioration of the nutritional situation, especially for children. This caused generalised food insecurity in the northern areas of Mali. The nutritional survey carried out by the Malian National Early Warning System SAP (Systeme d’Alerte Precoce) in July 2005 showed a rate of malnutrition that varied between 7.6% and 18.5% in these northern regions and the 2005 UNICEF Rapid Assessment confirmed these results. Insufficient access to food, in addition to lack of sanitation, health facilities, diseases, and inadequate weaning practices, are the principle causes of malnutrition in Mali.

As of March 2006, even though the 2005/2006 harvest turned out to be positive at a national level, the Malian Food Security Commisariat underlines that pockets exist with deficits, in particular in the regions of Mopti and Tomboctou and that populations in the communes of Bitangoungou, Essakane, Mbouma, Issabèry, Tin Aicha, Ardamalane (Goundam), Soumpi, Léré, Dianké (Niafunké) Farimaké (Youwarou), Bandiagara urbain, Dandali, Soroly, Doucoumbo and Wadouba (Bandiagara), as well as others, are at risk of difficult food security situations.

In the northern areas of Mali, there is a mix of pastoral and agricultural activities. Pastoralists have been hard hit by the crisis during the 2005 lean season. High cereal prices and falling animal prices in the most affected areas, have led some households to liquidate assets in the face of these harsh terms of trade. This forced pastoralists to move southwards in large numbers, creating a concentration of herds that grazed on the residue of harvested crops. This situation has plunged pastoralists even deeper into a state of acute vulnerability, especially children under five.

In Mauritania, the results of the August 2005 VAM survey show that the agro-pastoral zone of Mauritania continues to experience high levels of food insecurity, such as the South East of the country. According to the survey, global acute malnutrition is of 15.7% among surveyed children that is above the 10% critical threshold. Acute malnutrition is often linked to poor food consumption and/or common childhood diseases. The rate observed in August 2005 is higher than that observed in the October 2003 VAM survey where the prevalence of malnourished children was 12.8%. The level of global acute malnutrition varies according to the strata with highest rates in the Affolé (17.8%), the South East (17.1%), and the Aftout (13.8%). A total of 530,000 people, or 44% of surveyed households, were food insecure or highly vulnerable to food insecurity at the time of the survey.

Nutrition The Sahel has some of the highest acute child under nutrition rates in the world. According to UNICEF, the latest available surveys in Burkina Faso, Chad,9 Mali, Mauritania, and Niger show that 1.4 million children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition. Prevalence of acute malnutrition is over emergency thresholds in the region; according to internationally-agreed upon thresholds, when the prevalence of acute malnutrition in children 6-59 months old is > 10% the nutrition situation of children needs to be considered as serious; when it is > 15% the nutrition situation of children needs to be considered critical. In the Sahel, all five countries have acute malnutrition rates > 10%; in Burkina Faso, Chad, and Niger rates are over the 15% emergency threshold; the aggregated prevalence of acute malnutrition for the region is 15.2%.

9 Although Chad is not included in the appeal at hand, the country is part of the Sahel and the nutritional situation is in many ways similar to that of neighbouring countries.

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There is therefore an ongoing acute malnutrition crisis that needs an urgent/emergency response. Acute malnutrition is affecting primarily very young children (<35 months old); 80% of the under-five with acute malnutrition is children under 35 months old (i.e. 1.1 million children 0-35 months old).

Graph: Sahel. Evolution of wasting and stunting rates with age source: UNICEF

0

10

20

30

40

50

0-5 mo 6-11 mo 12-23 mo 24-35 mo 36-47 mo 48-59 mo

Wasting (acute undernutrition)Stunting (chronic undernutrition)

Child malnutrition is not limited to food-insecure areas. Very high rates of child malnutrition are found in regions classified as not food-insecure; for example, the Emergency Food Security Assessment conducted by WFP in September 2005 showed that Zinder in Niger is the region with the lowest proportion of food-insecure households in Niger (<15%); however, the Emergency Nutrition Survey conducted by UNICEF and Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in Niger in October 2005 showed that in Zinder, 16% of children 6-59 months were acutely malnourished. Child malnutrition is not limited to rural areas, children living in urban areas are equally affected; recent surveys in Niamey, Ouagadougou and N’Djamena show that as many as 16% of under-fives suffer from acute malnutrition.

It should also be noted that in Burkina Faso chronic malnutrition, a result of recurrent illness and insufficient or poor quality diet, increased from 30% to 39% between 1993 -2003 and this prevalence is considered as high according to WHO classification. The underweight prevalence also shows a similar pattern: 30% of children under-five were underweight in 1993 compared to 38% in 2003, which is classified as very high by WHO. According to the 2003 DHS, 68% of pregnant women and 92% of pre-school children are anaemic, and as many as 85% of children are affected by vitamin A deficiency.

In the Sahel in general, chronic malnutrition in children is also widespread; 37% of under-fives (one child in three or 3.6 million children) suffer from chronic malnutrition; more worrisome, 50% of under fives who are chronically undernourished suffer from severe chronic malnutrition (i.e. 1.8 million children).

In the Sahel, malnutrition is attributable to 52% of child deaths; this means that half the child mortality burden in the Sahel is due to malnutrition in children (280,000 child deaths attributable to malnutrition each year). In view of the above, there is reason to believe that the highly publicised nutrition crisis in Niger in 2005 is a representative sample of a region-wide nutrition crisis in children that requires an urgent and effective regional response.

Health The combination of communicable diseases (CD) and malnutrition is the most prevalent public health problem in case of food crisis. They are together responsible for preventable deaths. Infants and children are particularly affected as observed in the last crisis in Niger. The risk of death due to malnutrition increases because infectious diseases further worsen the effects of malnutrition. The relationship is synergistic; malnutrition compromises natural immunity leading to increased susceptibility to infection, more frequent and prolonged episodes, and increased severity of disease. The diseases of more public health concern are cholera & other diarrhoeal diseases, acute respiratory

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infections, malaria, measles, meningitis, human immuno-deficiency virus / acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) etc.

Furthermore, infants and young children are at particular risk. The first two years are critical periods in which brain and physical growth is most active. Nutritional and psychosocial deficits during this time period can result in life long impairment and disability.

An estimated 1 in 7 women in Niger dies from pregnancy-related complications. Making sure that pregnant and lactating women receive adequate nutrition with essential vitamins and minerals can reduce maternal death, birth defects, childhood mortality, blindness, anaemia and vulnerability to infections. Experts estimate that eliminating malnutrition in mothers can reduce disabilities in their infants by almost one third.

2.2 SCENARIOS

MOST LIKELY SCENARIOIn Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania, emergency levels of malnutrition will reappear in localised areas during the lean season in 2006. However, it is not expected that mortality rates will be at emergency levels. It is also anticipated that a locust invasion will remain unlikely. It is expected that prices will remain high assuming that economic and trade practices remain unchanged. An aggravating factor that needs to be taken into consideration is increased indebtedness at household levels that is likely to reduce coping capacities during the lean season. As such, the humanitarian consequences of food insecurity in Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso could affect somewhat less than the 3.7 million persons in need of various degrees of food and nutrition assistance during the 2005 lean season.

Best Case ScenarioFor Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Mali a best-case scenario would encompass a good production of the main harvest, sufficient seeds, and water for dry season production sufficient to replenish National Food Security Stocks and household stocks and relieve indebtedness. A normalisation of markets and increased capacity of national Governments to respond to crisis given debt relief are also an integral part of a best-case scenario for the Sahel. In general, heightened awareness of potential food insecurity and the importance of preparedness form part of this scenario.

Worst Case ScenarioA worst case scenario would be one where continued unfavourable terms of trade for livestock and cereal, rapid spread of the Avian Influenza outbreak registered initially in Nigeria and Niger in February, and lack of preparedness for an appropriate response to food insecurity in the 2006 lean season lead to increased protectionism and a deterioration of the most vulnerable households’ food security. Moreover, the situation would generate with closure of borders and restrictions of movements of persons and goods, as well as increase in both animal and human epidemics and heightened social tensions due to food insecurity.

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2.3 STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

The overarching strategic priorities for humanitarian response in West Africa were developed as follows during the Consolidated Appeal Process for 2006:

Strategic Priorities 1. The most vulnerable West African populations affected by crises and natural disasters are protected and assisted

Corresponding Goals

1.1 The responsibility of Governments to guarantee the protection of and assistance for West African populations affected by complex crisis and natural disasters is supported by humanitarian agencies.

Corresponding Objectives1.1.1 Protection and registration: Guarantee the legal and physical protection of affected populations, such as identification, registration and guaranteeing access.1.1.2 Life-saving: Ensure life saving actions for affected populations including food, nutrition, health and psycho/social care, water, sanitation and shelter.1.1.3 Return, Reintegration and Recovery: Facilitate the return and/or reintegration of affected populations and recovery of host communities.Strategic Priorities 2. Regional Coordination, Information and Advocacy mechanisms are better applied to

reduce vulnerabilityCorresponding Goals

2.1. Humanitarian response in West Africa is mobilised and provided to the most vulnerable populations in a targeted, coherent and timely manner.

Corresponding Objectives2.1.1 Early warning and advocacy: Strengthen and adapt Early Warning and Monitoring Systems to better serve requirements for appropriate advocacy for the rights of people in need.2.1.2 Coordination: strengthen IASC mirrored coordination mechanisms at regional and country level to ensure complementarity of action.2.1.3 Information: Build up regional information mechanisms to better serve decision-making and appropriate response.2.1.4 Preparedness and preventive measures: Reinforce regional preparedness and preventive measures including contingency planning efforts.

2.4 RESPONSE PLANS

In Niger, to reduce the risks of an eventual food and nutritional crisis, the Government, through the Food Crisis Cell, has elaborated a support program to the affected populations that foresees both a reinforcement of the capacities of the vulnerable populations and relief actions. This program which was presented to partners by the Prime Minister on February 7 2006, places a special accent on the necessity for all actors to link emergency and development assistance into the national frameworks for prevention and management of food crises, and of the poverty reduction strategy.

As such, the United Nations System in Niger has inscribed support activities into Governmental strategies and developed a common action plan, which is integrated into the addendum of the regional consolidated appeal for West Africa.10

This common plan of the UN System in Niger contains the strategic axes of initiatives and the projects that have served for the elaboration of the part that concerns Niger of this sub-regional appeal. It reflects a consultative process that takes into account the studies and assessments carried out after last year’s crisis. The activities outlined in the projects will allow the UN System in close collaboration with its partners from the Government and NGOs to address major challenges in the short and the medium-term in order to:

improve food availability for households classified as very weak by the different investigations and assessments;

reduce the rates of extremely high malnutrition in certain zones; positively influence prices of basic cereals that remain higher than the five-year average; quickly reduce the debt levels of households; reduce avoidable deaths resulting from the combination of malnutrition and infection diseases

and prevent negative impact of psycho development due to acute malnutrition.

Objectives for 2006 in Niger10 “Plan commun d’action du système des Nations Unies au Niger en 2006” available from the UN Humanitarian Coordinator’s office in Niger or on http://ochaonline.un.org/westafrica.

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Contribute to the improvement of the nutritional and sanitary situation of children, mothers, and other vulnerable persons.

Protect the means of subsistence in crisis situations and reinforce the resistance to shocks. Improve food security of the vulnerable households by the production of quality seeds, the

distribution of food and gardening seeds, livestock reconstitution (small ruminants and poultry) and veterinary and zoo technical (livestock food) input support.

Contribute to the reconstruction of the SNS and reinforce the national and regional capacities regarding prevention and management of food and nutritional crises.

Improve access to health care, including reproductive health for vulnerable groups. Support the SNIS in monitoring, early screening and rapid response to nutritional and sanitary

emergencies (WHO). Reduce avoidable deaths resulting from the combination of malnutrition and infection diseases

and prevent negative impact of psycho development due to acute malnutrition.

Response strategies in Niger Develop integrated response plans according to the priority objectives on malnutrition, health

and food security defined by the GoN. Reinforce synergies and the complementarities with other partners (GoN, Donor, NGO, Civil

Corporation, projects) and ensure the activity integration in national structures. Support preventive activities in high risk and risk defined areas and select beneficiaries in

consultation with field partners. Provide health centres with radios, in support of the collection and transmission of weekly data

on malnutrition and obligatory disease declaration (MDO). Integrate the DNPGCA in order to strengthen existing coordination mechanism capacities; Ensure better synchronisation between emergency activities, transitional and development

activities. Harmonise the communication plans regarding eventual crisis prevention, management and

post crisis activities with the GoN plan. Strengthen nutrition and disease surveillance, and control, information management and

sharing, local capacity building.

Expected results in Niger 500,000 malnourished children taken care of within emergency nutritional programmes. Improved staff competence and health service capacities. Reduced morbidity and mortality due to malnutrition and transmittable diseases. Ensured safe pregnancy and delivery amongst crises affected women. Re-dynamised community based nutritional surveillance. Two light nutritional surveys organised in every region between June and November 2006. Two food security surveys in collaboration with SAP- the first during the lean season and the

second after harvesting. 3,310,210 persons attended through nutritional, additional nutrition (blanket), food-for-work,

food-for-training programmes and emergency stocks. Technical, material and financial support for national and regional capacity reinforcement (SNIS,

CCA, SAP, DNPGCA, SIM cattle, Governorates). Reinforced partnership and availability of basic documents on the prevention and management

of an eventual crisis (Contingency Plan, CAP, UN Development Assistance Framework Plan). 95,000 rural households to benefit from food seeds covering 87,500 hectares for 42,750 MTs of

cereal. 75,000 households to exploit 4,300 hectares of market gardening for 53,000 MTs of vegetables.

12,000 pastoral households to benefit from 15,000 small ruminants, 20,000 poultry, 500 MTs of cattle food.

Supervision and availability of the data on obligatory disease declaration (MDO) and cases of malnutrition.

Infectious diseases specially, malaria, diarrhoeal disease including cholera acute respiration infection timely managed among the malnourished.

In Mali, the Strategic Framework in the fight against poverty (CSLP) remains the basis of the Government’s policies and strategies. The main axes of the Government’s food security policy revolve around the following: 1) development of a strategy for an extended coverage of food needs in the country; 2) reconstitution of the national food security stock (SNS) to face eventual food crises; 3)

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elaborate and implement strategies for the reinforcement of production capacities of the vulnerable populations. Core sectoral policies to this effect are the Programme for the reinforcement of food security and the national nutrition strategic plan of the ministry of health (2005-09).

In response to the 2005 crisis the Government developed a National Response Plan to Food insecurity which was presented to Donors and Technical Partners that year. It is within this framework and in support of the strategies of the Government that the UN System in Mali has identified activities to be integrated into the Sahel revision of the West Africa CAP for 2006, and developed the action plan below.

The UN Action Plan is structured around strategic axes defined according to a consultative approach. It is based on the Strategic Framework for Poverty Reduction, the National Response Plans for 2005 and 2006, the Programme for the restructuring of the cereals market (PRMC) and the National Programme for Food Security. It contains a certain number of projects which, if implemented, will allow the UN System, in close collaboration with the Commissariat of Food Security and NGOs, to address the major challenges to respond in a timely manner to the economic difficulties that the 2004/2005 crisis have induced for vulnerable populations, and to enable a strengthening of the food security and nutritional situation.

Objectives for 2006 in Mali Reduce food security difficulties in order to improve the nutritional situation for

vulnerable populations. Contribute to the reconstitution of production assets in order to create favorable

conditions for the 2006-2007 harvests. Contribute to the reconstitution of the National Cereal Banks.

Strategies for intervention in Mali Structure interventions around strategies defined by the Government: National

Response Plan (PNR), National Food Security Plan (PNSA) and National food security System (SNSA).

Reinforcement of the capacities of the Commisariat for Food Security to allow it to effectively carry out its coordination role.

Strengthen coordination and synergies between all partners in order to optimise interventions.

Improve complementarity between emergency and development activities.

Expected results in Mali Capacities of Commissariat for Food Security and of communes are strengthened. 1,5 million persons supported through nutritional programmes, food for work, food for training,

cereal banks and community stocks. Gardening and off-season farming carried out by 37,700 individual gardeners and 6,370

households. 150 groups of stockbreeders supported with veterinary products and fodder. National food security stocks reconstituted to optimal levels (35,000 MTs). Inventories created for cereal banks, available stocks evaluated and other cereal banks

constituted. Communication plan developed and carried out in close collaboration with the Commissariat for

Food Security and NGOs.

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RELEVANT ASSESSMENTS AND EVALUATIONSIn addition to the regular evaluations carried out by National and International Early Warning Systems in the Sahel, the following evaluations and assessments have been carried out since July 2005:

Food Security:1. FAO/WFP/CILSS/FEWS Food Security Assessment in Niger

Carried out 4 Oct – 14 Nov 2005. Final report pending.

2. WFP/VAM Analyse de la sécurité alimentaire et de la vulnérabilité (CFSVA) - Collecte et analyse des informations secondaires. Niger.Report of December 2005 available at www.wfp.org

3. WFP/ National Early Warning Unit “Comprehensive Food Security Vulnerability Analysis” (CFSVA) through 2100 sentinental sites in Mali Data collection undertaken in December 2005 – Final Report expected for March 2006.

Nutrition:1. GoN/CDC Atlanta/UNICEF survey in Niger

Carried out in September and October 2005.

2. Action Against Hunger nutritional survey in Maradi and Tahoua of Niger.Available from ACF Spain: clambert@achesp.org

3. Rapid Nutrition assessment conducted by CDC and USAID in Burkina Faso in September 2005

4. Nutritional survey WFP/National Early Warning Unit in MaliCarried out in July 2005Report available from WFP Mali

5. Nutritional survey Action against Hunger in MaliCarried out in November 2005Report available from ACF Mali

Agriculture:1. Joint CILSS/Government Crop Assessment Missions in the nine CILSS member countries carried

out in October/November 2005. Results are available at www.fao.org

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ANNEX I. ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ACF Action Contre la FaimAGRHYMET Regional Agroclimatological, Hydrological and Meteorological Institute

CAP Consolidated Appeals ProcessCDC Centre for Disease ControlCFSVA Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability AnalysisCHAP Common Humanitarian Action PlanCILSS Comité Inter-Etat de Lutte contre la Secheresse

DNPGCA National Food Security Mechanism

EFSA Emergency Food Insecurity Survey

FAO Food and Agriculture OrganizationFEWS Famine Early Warning SystemGIEWS Global Information and Early Warning System

GoN Government of Niger

HIV/AIDS Human Immuno-deficiency Virus/Acquired Immuno-deficiency Syndrome

IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee

MDO Malnutrition and Obligatory Disease DeclarationMT Metric Tonne

NGO Non-Governmental Organisation

PNR National Response PlanPNSA National Food Security Plan

PRRO Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation

SAP Systeme d’Alerte PrecoceSIM Market Information SystemSNIS National Health Information SystemSNS National Security StockSNSA National Food Security Strategy

UNFPA United Nations Population FundUNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeUNICEF United Nations Children’s FundUSAID United States Agency for International Development

VAM Vulnerability Assessment Mapping

WA West AfricaWFP World Food ProgrammeWHO World Health Organization

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NOTES:

OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS(OCHA)

UNITED NATIONS PALAIS DES NATIONSNEW YORK, N.Y. 10017 1211 GENEVA 10

USA SWITZERLAND

Analyze the Context

Assess Needs

Build Scenarios

Set Goals

Identify Roles &Responsibilities

Plan theResponse

Appeal for Funds

Implement a CoordinatedProgram me

Monitor & Evaluate

Revise the Plan

Report

CH

AP

The Consolidated Appeals P roc ess :an inclusive, coordinated programme cycle in emergencies to:

http://www.humanitar ianappeal.net