before it's too late.http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian

@guardianeco Letters: UK aid for the Sahel http://bit.ly/8Zh11Z

# The Guardian, Monday 9 August 2010

Letters
UK aid for the Sahel


Your editorial (3 August) highlighted the shocking scale of the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel region. Right now, 10 million people do not have enough food to eat across Niger and the Sahel region.

The UK government has been swift to respond to this crisis, and recently announced further aid to help the growing number of people who urgently need food and medical supplies. This month British aid will feed 325,000 people and treat an additional 8,000 malnourished children in the region. This is on top of UK help providing seeds for thousands of families to grow crops, and treat 77,500 children for acute malnutrition across the eastern Sahel. The UK is one of the largest donors to this emergency relief effort.

In these difficult economic times, it's important to remember that while charity begins at home, it does not end here. Nor can we solve this crisis on our own, which is why we are urging many other countries to come forward before it's too late.

Stephen O'Brien

International development minister