AFRICA/SENEGAL - Caritas Senegal: More than 7 million people in food crisis in the Sahel region

Wednesday, 12 February 2020 caritas   food safety   water  

Dakar (Agenzia Fides) – More than 7 million people are affected by food insecurity in the Sahel region. This was stated by Caritas Senegal, which held its 56th Plenary Assembly in Ziguinchor, from 8 to 9 February.
The final press release of the assembly, sent to Agenzia Fides, recalls that "the meeting takes place in the regional context characterized by the deterioration of the security situation and by the extension of food insecurity, in particular in the Sahel where 7.2 millions people are concerned".
The President of Caritas Senegal, His Exc. Mgr. Jean Pierre Bassene, Bishop of Kolda and Apostolic Administrator of Tambacounda, underlined that "the food crisis in the region must be placed in a context of complex vulnerability which also exposes communities to other related risks, the spread of the coronavirus epidemic and the resumption of the Ebola virus epidemic in the Great Lakes region".
Proper management of water resources was one of the central themes of the Assembly's work, as demonstrated by the three reports entitled "Problems and challenges of access and management of water resources for food security: theological and biblical approach"; "the 9th Dakar World Water Forum 2021", "Access and management of water for food safety".
Among the topics examined by the participants: integrated management of water resources; fears aroused by the exploitation of the water table by hotels, industries and residences in the area; the creation of a special police task force will be set up in order to avoid drilling without prior authorization. The next Plenary Assembly of Caritas Senegal will be held in February 2021 in Dakar. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 12/2/2020)


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