Edward McAllister

DAKAR (Reuters – This year, a small charity opened a clinic north of Burkina Faso that will care for thousands more children and women who fled Islamist insurgents wreaking havoc on the Sahara fringes.

However, when Russia invaded Ukraine, February 2014, the global supply chain collapsed, and West Africa’s cost of food, fuel, and building materials soared. Boukary Ouedraogo (the founder of this charity) was faced with a difficult decision. Construction had been stopped and only the foundations were laid.

Similar appeals are made in sub-Saharan Africa where aid projects may be threatened by the aftermath of the conflict in Ukraine. This could potentially put millions of people at risk.

The crisis in Europe is causing more problems for humanitarian agencies that are already facing widespread price rises due to the pandemic. Even lifesaving therapies for malnourished kids have seen a spike in their costs.

The problem is made worse by the fact that some donors have taken state aid out of Africa’s hardest-hit countries in order to provide support for more than 6 million refugees fleeing fighting in Ukraine.

In March, Denmark announced that it would halve its Burkina Faso aid this year in order to provide shelter for the Ukrainian refugees. 40 percent of its budget has been slashed for Burkina’s neighbour Mali. Mali too is under attack by Islamists.

Sweden stated it also plans to take $1B from its aid budget for the purpose of paying for Ukrainian refugee housing.

Kaya was a tiny town with dirt streets, brick homes and barren land. Ouedraogo’s clinic was needed urgently. As thousands flee militant attacks in the area, Kaya has witnessed its population grow. The strain on an already fragile health system is causing it to expand.

Ouedraogo who manages the BO Foundation Burkina Faso said, “Whatever happened in Ukraine occurred at the same moment as the crisis was in this country getting worse.”

He stated, “We wish all donors can continue to pay attention.” “We believed that the work we were doing would reduce infant deaths and increase their lives.”

EMERGENCY LEVELS

Similar circumstances are unfolding in Sudan. A $300,000. funding gap has been created by Alima, the Senegal-based charity for paediatrics. This is due to rising costs and fuel.

According to Kader Issaley, Alima’s director of operations at the time, Alima would have to close down the program.

Action Against Hunger has witnessed the price of food such as sugar, oil and rice rise by 20% to 30% in the past year.

Mamadou diop, an official from their West Africa office, stated that the coverage will be reduced by the same amount.

Diop stated, “We must completely rethink how we approach it.” “Do we cut the amount of beneficiaries or decrease supply?”

Africa is not the only victim of this problem. While the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), which feeds 13,000,000 people per month in Yemen due to years of conflict, has decreased rations by 8 million since January.

The organization may be forced to reduce its spending after only raising a quarter the $2bn it needed for Yemen from international donors.

Richard Ragan, WFP’s representative in Yemen said that “We are taking food from the hungry and feeding them.”

He said, “In June, we will need to make tough decisions about whether or not to feed five million people who are most at-risk.”

UNUSUAL IN SCOPE

Nevertheless, Africa’s challenges are not limited in their scope.

Millions have fled their homes due to conflict in Somalia, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Sahel Region. The World Bank estimates that nearly half a million people are living in extreme poverty.

Nearly 40 million West Africa residents are facing an unprecedented shortage of food. It is being caused in large part by droughts and the effect of war on Ukraine’s food supply and price.

Health specialists state that the impact of rising costs on aid organizations can be varied.

A smaller charity that is dependent on government funding for annual budgets might have more trouble than an organization like Medecins Sans Frontieres which relies on public campaign funds to raise money.

MSF stated that it didn’t foresee any reductions in its operations as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

However, not everyone is immune. WFP has had to reduce rations for seven West African countries due to a drop in funding prior the Ukraine war.

Nigeria is the most populous continent and the population receiving WFP’s emergency aid has fallen from 1.9million in September to 650,000.

Northern Nigeria, like Mali and Burkina Faso is also beset by an Islamist insurgency.

Specialists in health and aid workers stated that it is too soon to determine the exact impact on communities and it may take several months for us to know how severe the cuts will cause.

Djaounsede madjiangar, WFP spokesperson for Western Africa said that “further funding shortages will contribute to worsening nutrition and food security in areas where food insecurity has already reached emergency levels.”

PLAUMPY’NUT SPIKE

Somalia: Hassan, a one-year old boy who screamed and cried in his blue plastic bucket that was suspended from the scale. The medical tech noted that he weighed 5.6kg.

That was a big improvement. Hassan was only 5 1/2 kg at the time he began treatment for severe acute Malnutrition in a south-facing clinic. This is about the same weight as a normal boy of his age.

Plumpy’Nut is a sweet peanut paste that French scientists developed in 1990s. This has been a vital weapon in fighting child malnutrition.

UNICEF estimates that three small bags a day, for six weeks, can suffice to restore a child’s full health.

Hasan Habiba Mohammed Nur said, “He used to get much worse,” and patted her son’s bony legs beneath an over-sized T-shirt. He has been greatly helped by the Plumpy’Nut.

UNICEF estimates that it spends $137 Million annually on therapeutic foods and the market overall is worth approximately $400 million.

Aid agencies warn that it’s becoming prohibitively expensive.

According to Plumpy’Nut’s chief producer Nutriset; the price of Plumpy’Nut rose 23% in the last year. This includes a 9% rise imposed by the Ukraine crisis.

A March march letter sent to customers warned of rising prices. It stated that ingredients such as milk powder, palm oil and whey have all been increasing in cost. Packaging, which includes laminate for the sachets has also seen a sharp rise. Also, shipping expenses have risen dramatically. Nutriset reported that shipping costs have risen by 39%.

Nutriset stated that the war in Ukraine has an indirect impact on the raw material prices. Prices will increase further in the coming weeks and months.

UNICEF is concerned about the price increases. UNICEF predicts that therapeutic food prices will increase 16% over the next six-months due to Ukraine’s pandemic interruptions. It warned that 600,000.00 more children could be denied treatment if they don’t receive additional funding.

According to aid workers, the impact is already felt.

Alima’s spending budget for buying and shipping a bunch of Plumpy’Nut to a development in the northeast of Democratic Republic of Congo costs around 175,000 Euros ($188,000).

However, due to an increase in fuel prices and the cost of Plumpy’Nut the shipment costs now run at 230,000 euros according to Alima logistics director Hassan Bouziane.

Now he must go to donors for more money, which will take up valuable time.

Bouziane said that “the impact on the beneficiaries is huge.” Six weeks is the treatment time for a five-year-old child. Two weeks is equivalent to a third of the treatment.

($1 = 0.9333 euros)