BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Food crisis 'runs across Africa'

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Food crisis 'runs across Africa': "With attention on food shortages in Niger, aid agencies say a vast 'hunger belt' is stretching across Africa.

People across Africa are affected, from Niger in central Africa to Somalia on the Indian Ocean seaboard.

Latest reports from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network say over 20m people are at risk from food shortages.

The broad cross-section of international aid agencies says that urgent action is required in seven countries across Africa.

The dramatic TV pictures from Niger may have pricked the conscience of some donor countries, but a broader look at the continent shows much wider need.

The Famine Early Warning network, made up of a variety of aid agencies including the aid arm of the US government, USAid, says no fewer than seven African states are facing food emergencies.

These are mostly on the fringes of the Sahara desert and stretch from Niger, through Chad and Sudan, to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.

Rain crucial

One factor unites most of the people at risk across Africa.

They rely overwhelmingly on rain-fed or flood-plain agriculture rather than having access to irrigated fields.



West Africa hunger map
Famine or food crisis?
When rains are erratic or fail it is a disaster."