Act now on the #Sahel2012 food crisis
Since I set this up Senegalese Singer Baaba Maal has set up a similar petition - can I ask you to please sign this one
https://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/The_grain_sacks_are_empty
Our food system is broken. Right now 18 million people are going hungry across the Sahel region of Africa. Time is running out. The world must act now to provide food and water for the hard months ahead and invest in long-term solutions to ensure this never happens again.
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Dear World leaders
We urge you to act now to protect families across the Sahel from a severe food crisis that risks destroying the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.
Funds are urgently needed to provide food, water and support to over 18 million people, and save the lives of over 1 million children at risk of severe malnutrition.
Whilst more people can be reached at less cost if we act now, delaying any longer would be devastating for millions of hard-hit families.
We are asking you to save lives and money by acting now in Sahel, but also to invest in the long-term to ensure food crises like this one become a thing of the past.
This means giving people the means to cope with future droughts by investing in small-scale farmers to boost food production, building food reserves to protect against future crises and developing social safety nets to support the incomes of the poorest families.
Only by acting now to protect people from the crisis of today, and acting in the long-term to prevent the crises of tomorrow, can we break the cycle of hunger and secure a future where everyone has enough to eat.