D & P request donations to help West Africa

Looming food crisis in Sahel region prompts appeal

A boy eats rice mixed with spaghetti noodles from a garbage can lid at a distribution center in Simiri, Niger, July 6, 2010. Niger is one of several countries facing a potentially catastrophic food shortage. Lane Hartill / CNS.

A devastating food crisis could be heading to West Africa and the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) wants to help. Deborah Gyapong, CCN's Ottawa bureau chief explains:

CCODP executive director Michael Casey called the growing food shortages “a major crisis,” but one that has received little to no media attention. “The needs are extensive and will only increase,” he said.

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and Development and Peace launched a joint campaign May 29 to help an estimated 15.6 million people who face potentially catastrophic food shortages in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Gambia, Senegal, Northern Cad and Northern Nigeria.

Some bishops are already taking up collections in parishes in their dioceses, according to the the bishop's director of media relations René Laprise.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.