This little boy is one year old Adam Abdulai. In a desperate attempt to save her son, Adam's mother, Hawa had to carry him either on foot or donkey for 28 miles.

Hawa said, “We didn’t have much food when I was pregnant. I was eating boule (millet based paste) once or twice a day during my pregnancy. I got very sick and weak after the birth…I could not breast feed him properly.

Mao used to be home to a huge pastoral and farming community, but a shortage of viable land to grow crops has had a crippling effect .

The lack of vegetation is also killing cattle. In 2009 around 31 percent of the herd in the region perished in 2009. The number of deaths will surely increase this year. Around 2 million people are in need of food here in the western region. The World Food Programme and the Food is planning to distribute food aid for people and cattle. They will have to hurry-