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The first warnings of drought and poor harvests in Africa’s Sahel region emerged in late 2011, and vulnerable communities in many areas have been threatened by a looming food crisis.

Growing insecurity in Mali and northern Nigeria is disrupting the supply of food to communities suffering from a major food crisis affecting 13 million people in West Africa, said international aid agency Oxfam today.

The current food crisis in Niger is likely to escalate into a full-scale humanitarian emergency if urgent action is not taken, international agency Oxfam warned today. Already, 1.9 million people are at severe risk, and by April, this number could rise to 3.5 million people if help doesn’t come now, according to the National Early Warning System.

Some 13 million people are at severe risk from a food crisis which is set to escalate into a full scale humanitarian emergency in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa if urgent action is not taken.

Estimates of people in need of assistance in the Sahel increases to over 11 million people, as agency warns humanitarian efforts need to be stepped up in the coming weeks.

The FSNAU has announced that the famine status in Somalia has ended.

On the eve of the 2012 African Cup of Nations, more than 25 footballers have spoken out in solidarity with millions of people facing hunger across their region.

Thousands of needless deaths occurred and millions of extra dollars were spent because the international community failed to take decisive action on early warnings of a hunger crisis in East Africa, according to a new report by the international aid agencies Oxfam and Save the Children.

As more heads of state publicly support the military action in Somalia, Oxfam called on international leaders to refocus on addressing the crippling famine in the country.

The Sahel Working Group, a consortium of International NGOs, today launched a report evaluating the responses to the 2005 and 2010 food crises, concluding that the Sahel is “in a state of permanent crisis” requiring smarter and earlier investment in the region.