Escaping the hunger cycle: Pathways to resilience in the Sahel

This report tries to determine how aid could be more effective in reducing vulnerability in the Sahel. It guides decision-makers to strengthen preparedness, early response and rural livelihoods., and emphasise policies on social protection, disaster risk reduction, malnutrition and food price volatility. It analyses changes that have occurred in public policies and programmes in the Sahel since the 2005 food crisis. It examines whether and how lessons learnt from the 2005 food crisis were taken into account during the 2010 food crisis. The first section of the report gives a brief overview of the 2010 crisis. The second analyses the most promising changes since 2005 in addressing the root causes of vulnerability. The third highlights the failures of the 2010 response, the structural obstacles to change, and challenges for ending the chronic crisis of food and nutrition insecurity. The fourth section describes a conceptual framework which, if followed, will arrest and reverse the alarming trend of deepening vulnerability in the Sahel. Drawing on evidence of positive changes already in motion, and new lessons learned, this framework is designed to guide major groups of actors (governments, CILSS, donors, UN agencies, international NGOs, and civil society) in decision-making, and setting priorities for overcoming the largely neglected chronic dimensions of the food and nutrition crisis. The fifth section contains the conclusions and detailed recommendations This research has already generated significant interest among the aid community and policy makers in the Sahel. It is based on interviews with over 70 practitioners, researchers, representatives from donors, governments and the UN, as well as field visits in Niger and Chad, and relevant literature and reports.

 Sahel Working Group - September 2011