Benin: Waiting for the end of the flood

By Eva Krafczyk Nov 5, 2010, 14:27 GMT

Nairobi/Cotonou, Benin - Water is generally regarded as a luxury in the Sahel, the belt of land continually threatened by drought and into which the Sahara desert makes fresh inroads every year.

But this year the usually longed-for rainy season has become a curse - large parts of West and Central Africa are suffering prolonged flooding.

The situation is at its most dramatic in the West African nation of Benin, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Since September, two-thirds of Benin have been hit by the worst flooding since the beginning of the century.

Many people have lost everything, their houses carried away by overflowing rivers, cattle drowned, harvests destroyed.

They have been forced to turn to churches and schools for shelter, or to friends and relatives, who themselves are under pressure as precious stores are used up.

Clean drinking water is almost impossible to find in the flood- afflicted areas as wells became flooded and sewage found its way in. Cholera and malaria are now a dangerous threat.

'The water flooded our house,' 33-year-old Constante Dagninhoun told United Nations workers. 'The current was so strong that we couldn't get all our things to safety. We just took the children and fled.'

She is now sharing a tent with her husband and five children and three other families in the courtyard of a church.

'We have floods every year but it's never been as bad as this,' she added.

Benin's government and the UN on Wednesday appealed for 47 million dollars in aid to help the flood victims.

But Benin isn't alone in its problems. According to UN estimates at least 1.8 million people in Western and Central Africa were affected by flooding this year and nearly 400 people drowned.

In Niger and Burkino Faso, Ghana and Chad flooding caused severe damage. And the people will continue to suffer in its aftermath even after the debris has been cleared away as the floods arrived before the harvest could be brought in.

In the Sahel countries, where hunger is an ever-present threat, many people will remain hungry even after the flood waters have trickled away.