Aid agencies have warned that the drought in West Africa's Sahel region could become a humanitarian disaster. Malnutrition and illnesses are putting at risk the lives of thousands of people in Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and northern Senegal. Photo: Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

Aboubacar, from the Kadago Biri village in Niger, had taken his daughter Aicha – who was suffering from gastroenteritis - to a medical facility run by MSF. There he heard that his wife Mariama (previous photo), who was pregnant, had just lost their baby and was dying. Prompt action saved the lives of both Mariama and Aicha.

MSF says that in Niger’s villages, seeing a doctor is a luxury for most people. Because of the distance to health facilities, the lack of transport and the bad quality of the roads, many mothers and children arrive too late at the health clinics. Photo: MSF

The drought has not only affected people. Their livestock have also been badly affected by the lack of water and pasture for grazing.

Sometimes there is not enough water in the village wells to satisfy all the inhabitants, let alone their animals.

An additional problem in Niger has been the influx of refugees from neighbouring Mali over the last few months.

Many have been escaping from a new rebellion in northern Mali and that also means more competition for Niger's scarce resources, including food and water. UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies have been assisting the refugees.

Several agencies have launched emergency appeals to raise millions of dollars to help the most vulnerable. "All signs point to a drought becoming a catastrophe if nothing is done soon. The world cannot allow this to happen," Oxfam Regional Director for West Africa, Mamadou Biteye, said earlier this month. Photo: Oxfam

But the agencies are also aware that more needs to be done in order to encourage local people to be less dependent on humanitarian aid. This woman, Bengali Tani, 40, married and the mother of 10 children, is one of the beneficiaries of a "cash for work" scheme run by Oxfam in Niger. Photo: Oxfam