In the Sahel the combination of violence, insecurity, deep poverty and record food prices are exacerbating malnutrition and pushing millions of people to the limit of survival, according to Martin Griffiths, head of humanitarian affairs for the UN.

Nearly 18 million people in the Sahel region of Africa will face severe food insecurity over the next three months; the highest figure since 2014, warned the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In the Sahel, 7.7 million children under the age of 5 are expected to suffer from malnutrition, including 1.8 million from severe malnutrition. This number could reach 2.4 million by the end of the year, if aid operations are not stepped up, according to OCHA.

In the Sahel the combination of violence, insecurity, deep poverty and record food prices are exacerbating malnutrition and pushing millions of people to the limit of survival, according to Martin Griffiths, head of humanitarian affairs for the UN. He warns that whole families in the Sahel are on the brink of starvation and if we don’t act now people will perish.

Families are forced to sell their tools needed to sustain their lives and livelihoods. The situation in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger has reached alarming levels; in these areas nearly 1.7 million people will experience emergency levels of food insecurity during the lean season between June and August. The United Nations has released an additional $30 million to urgently strengthen the humanitarian response in these regions.

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