Floods Affect Thousands in West Africa
by Lane Hartill
In a field next to a river, Nyon Ada stares at his corn, crisping in the sun. It’s ruined, suffocating under a carpet of sand. Nyon was counting on it to feed his 70-year-old mother, wife and five kids. He has bills — his kids’ school fees, a house to run — but no way to pay them. But those are the least of his worries now. His field, his only source of income, is dead.
People assess the damage at a bridge destroyed by floods in Kulungugu in the Upper East Region of Ghana September 25, 2007. Photo by Alertnet/Reuters
In past years, the 47-year-old’s 2.5 acres of corn was the envy of the village. It was in a prime location: on the lowlands, where it retained moisture during Burkina’s frequent droughts. But this year, when the river spilled over its banks and soaked Nyon’s fields, it didn’t recede. For weeks, his cornfield marinated in several inches of standing water.
“The corn was under water for 20 days,” he says. He points to the horizon. “All of this was under water. Look at this place. What are we going to do?”
It’s a question on the minds of many across Burkina Faso’s southern Nahouri district, where more than 3,000 houses collapsed and close to 17,000 people have been hit by the floods. Across the country, according to the figures collected by the government and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 160,000 people may have been affected.
It’s not just Burkina Faso, either. Across the Sahel, torrential rain and flooding have hammered the region in the past months. The United Nations estimates the floods have affected more than 600,000 people in 13 West African countries. It’s a stark increase from the 65,000 people who were affected last year at this time.
The floods hit Ghana the hardest. So hard, in fact, that the government has declared a state of emergency in the country’s three northern regions. Estimates vary on the number of people affected. Government assessments, along with those from the Red Cross, found that more than 350,000 people in 800 communities have been affected. The United Nations puts the number at 200,000. Some 100,000 have been displaced.
Figures vary, but it is estimated that 32 Ghanaians have died because of the flooding.
Coming Together as a Community
The President of Ghana, John Kufuor, pledged $6.6 million to buy emergency medical supplies, fix two bridges and repair roads. The government has also appealed to the United Nations for help.
CRS has been talking to members of flooded communities and preparing a response. Last Wednesday, the U.S. Agency for International Development awarded CRS Ghana $50,000 for relief efforts. This will buy blankets, sleeping mats, lanterns, and insecticide-treated mosquito nets for 5,000 Ghanaians affected by the floods in Bongo district, one of the poorest in the Upper East region. CRS will devote $20,000 of its own resources to purchase corn, one of the staple foods in the region. The Catholic Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga will help distribute the items.
Last week, Daniel Ayugane, Catholic Relief Services’ head of programs in Tamale, participated in a joint assessment mission with the United Nations, the government of Ghana and other nongovernmental organizations to look at the damage in the Upper East region.
”Many people whose homes had collapsed, other people are letting them sleep [in their houses]; they’re caring for them,” he says. “They were accepted and integrated into the community.”
The situation hit home when Ayugane saw two people swimming across a river in the Upper East region where a bridge had been washed out. They were each using one arm to paddle and the other to haul a bicycle across.
'I've Never Seen Anything Like This'
In Burkina Faso, village elders say they’ve never seen rain like this. Kababia Akolay, 80, is from Tambolo, a village just a few kilometers from the border of Ghana. He says that during a typical rainy season, the precipitation will let up for several days before the next showers. This season, it didn’t stop.
Nyon Ada, 47, shows the berenga leaf that he and his family will be forced to eat once last year’s food runs out. Nyon’s cornfield was wiped out during the floods.
“In the past, we have rain and then there’s 10 days without rain,” says Kababia. “Since I was born, I’ve never seen anything like this. It was so bad, God couldn’t have sent it. It was worse.”
Rainfall data back up what he says. Nahouri district received a combined 30 inches of rain during July and August, a figure that many here say is extraordinary.
“I would describe it as a massive disaster,” says Dr. Joseph Sedgo, Catholic Relief Services regional technical advisor for agriculture. “I think what is needed now, based on the discussion we had with the people, in the most immediate terms, is food and a place to stay. After those urgent needs are met, we can begin to look for the medium- and long-term way to help recovery.”
He says that some people are squatting in school buildings. Others have been taken in by family members, a support structure that has helped many cope. When school starts on October 1, however, families will be forced out of the schools.
Villagers here tell stories of getting out just in time. One woman saw a sprinkling of dust filtering down from her roof. She got out just before it caved in. Batien Abassey, a senior citizen sporting orange flip-flops and a five o’clock shadow, says five of his six houses collapsed. One of them had five goats in it. All were crushed.
Dr. Tom Remington, Catholic Relief Services’ regional technical advisor for agriculture and food security, who is based in Nairobi, visited the area around Po, a town in southern Burkina Faso. He said people who lost homes and crops will need help down the road.
“For me, the key is that the damage in Po has been heterogeneous,” says Remington. “This means that many farm families will have good harvests — food will be available. But having the ability to access that food — I am thinking cash — for those families that lost houses and crops will be a problem.”
Take Kababia. He has a wife, 23 kids (nine of his own) to care for, and hardly any food left. The peanuts drying in his courtyard are what he’ll eat when last year’s food stock runs out. When the peanuts are gone?
“Ah,” he says, shrugging and turning his callused palms to the sky. “I don’t know how I’m going to manage.”
Nyon Ada does.
When his food runs out, he’ll turn to berenga leaves, a common emergency food in this part of Burkina Faso. Babenga — the soup made from the berenga leaf — is usually eaten during famines. His wife will pound the leaf and boil it several times. That will drain the bitterness out of the leaves.
It’s not high-class cuisine; it’s just something to fill the stomachs of Nyon and his family.
Lane Hartill is the West Africa regional information officer for Catholic Relief Services. He has visited CRS programs in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Lane is based in Dakar, Senegal.
