Food shortages continue to plague parts of the dry Sahel region of West Africa.
Tearfund projects are still working to enable communities to be self-sufficient despite the harsh climate, and to make the most of the rains when they do come.
No food, no peace
Tearfund policy officer, Jo Khinmaung, recently visited a small village near Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. She says, ‘One women said that her ideal day would be to wake up and see joy and peace in the face of her children.
'If there is nothing in her cereal bag, this destroys their peace and they are always struggling to survive.’
In Burkina Faso and Niger, many people live on low incomes. Even when harvests in their region are good, they cannot afford to buy food.
Rains have become more unpredictable over the past ten years, making it difficult for farmers to know when to plant. Rains have also become more erratic, meaning that crops often wither before they are ready for harvest.
New light
Hawa can send her children to school with money she makes from her stall
Jeff Woodke heads up Tearfund partner Jemed, and has worked amongst the Tuareg people in Niger for 20 years. He says, ‘I am frustrated with climate change coupled with poor international aid policies that cause food shortages. At the local level, however, I am encouraged to see how people are adapting to a steadily deteriorating environment.
‘Because of my faith I believe that every problem has a solution. I see the potential of the people and the land they live in. Where others see a desert and a colourful but quaint group of people, I see green pastures and happy prosperous herders living as God intended them to. I love Niger and its people.’
Feedback shows that those outside the church now realise Christians want to help those who are poor. One pastor, from Kallon Mota church in Niger, says that people now have more time for Bible study, and church attendance has increased because people do not need to travel away from their village to find work.
Adapting
Jean-Claude filled four grain stores this year
Thanks to the work of our partners, communities are now more resilient to drought and are able to draw on reserves from shared grain banks to see them through the lean period, or hunger gap, between harvests. They are also restocking herds, providing health education and doing advocacy work.
Partners in Burkina Faso and Niger are encouraging people to earn money from things like dress making and small vegetable gardens so that they are not reliant on one crop. This means that if the rains fail they will still have an income.
Hawa Koutou lives in Toma in northwest Burkina Faso. She owns a small street stall and sells groundnuts and cakes. She saves some of her profit and with the rest she invests some in her stall and is able to buy food and pay the school fees of her four children. Tearfund partner Accedes gave her a small loan to make this possible.
Accedes has also given ploughs and oxen to 100 families, to help them get the ground ready for planting.
Jean-Claude Toudala Toe normally only fills one grain store each year. This year however, thanks to the plough he got from Accedes and good rainfall, he was able to plough double the amount of land and fill four grain stores. He should now be able to provide food, school fees and clothes for his family for the whole year, and still have seeds left over to plant later this year.
Please pray
Please pray for the Sahel, giving thanks that the work of our partners is helping transform communities. Pray that the people of the Sahel will be able to continue successfully adapting to their changing climate.
For more information on climate change and how you can help, click here.