ACCRA, Feb. 2, 2012 -- The United Nation's rapporteur on food security, Olivier De Schutter, warned here on Thursday that unless the global community rose up early to intervene, there was imminent humanitarian crisis awaiting the Sahel zone of West Africa as a result of food shortage.

He told the media here that, in countries such as Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Senegal as well as the northern parts of Cameroon and Nigeria, low outputs had resulted in high food prices with governments declaring a state of emergency in affected areas.

"The result is that the lean season has begun in many of the regions we are talking of," Schutter said.

According to the rapporteur, Mauritania recorded crop yield deficit of 53 percent in comparison to the previous year's yield, while Chad recorded a 50 percent deficit with many severe losses in Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal.

"If the international community did not react swiftly to address the situation in the Sahel, in Niger in particular, and also in Mauritania, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal, Northern Cameroon and also in northern Nigeria also affected. We will have very serious consequences to face," he warned.

Schutter deplored the attitude of the international community in responding to the crisis in the Horn of Africa, one clear year after the United Nations' (UN) system had warned about it.

As a result of the draught and bad harvest in the region, there were people living at risk in the region where food availability was insufficient, he added.

The rapporteur estimated that about 2.9 million in Mali, 700, 000 in Mauritania and six million in Niger were all affected by famine.

"Acting now, we will prevent the worst from happening, and it will be less expensive to act preventively which is now rather than to wait for six more months," he called.

Schutter also recommended to governments in the sub-region to develop country draught strategies defining measures to be taken when they were faced with a draught disaster.

The rapporteur also called for the development of climate resilient agriculture to ensure that agriculture production was not affected when disaster struck, while governments also put in place food reserves that could respond to swiftly to the calamities of food shortage.

The greater responsibility for ensuring food security lay on governments who must act to protect their people from the scourge of famine, warned Schutter, who arrived here last Monday for a 5- day visit.

Schutter had addressed the West African Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition in Africa (WAAHM) and co-chaired the high-level policy dialogue between the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa as well as farmers from West African citizens juries on agriculture.