1. The Sahel Crisis Urgent Action

2. The Sahel The drought is affecting a huge swathe of territory that covers parts of: Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Gambia, Cameroon and northern Nigeria.

3. 3 The Crisis 3 For the third time in a decade, there is drought in the Sahel region of Africa. 18.4 million people are directly at risk of hunger, with 6 million who don’t have enough food now.

4. 4 The Causes 4 DROUGHT: The rains only come once a year in the Sahel and last year, they were patchy and late. That’s a recipe for disaster in a part of the world where most people live on what they can grow. When the rains don’t come on time, harvests fail, animals die and people start going hungry. HIGH FOOD PRICES: Bad harvests this year have driven up the price of food. E.g. price of corn is 60-85% higher than last 5 year average prices. The combined threat of drought, high food prices, displacement and chronic poverty is affecting millions

5. 5 What needs to be done? 5 With food stocks having already run out for some communities, and running dangerously low for others, support to protect lives and livelihoods is urgently needed to prevent the crisis becoming a catastrophe. Almost £1 billion is currently needed to respond to the crisis. The UK government needs to provide an additional £20 million to meet its fair share.

6. 6 Urgent: Take Action 6 We are optimistic that if enough people show support for the UK increasing their funding in line with the needs in West Africa then there is a good chance that the government will listen. So over to you…. With three simple actions, we can encourage the Government to give enough money to support those most vulnerable and respond in a way that will build future resilience.

7. 1.Write a letter to Andrew Mitchell 2. Share the e-action online (email/Twitter/Facebook/blogs) 3. Get into the media a)Write a letter to Editor b)Do a stunt or arrange a photocall c)Fundraise and let the media know

8. Droughts are natural, but hunger is man-made. Please take action nownow