"Refugee workers in the Sahel region where thousands of Malian refugees are fleeing violence in their country said this week they are witnessing firsthand the knotted challenges of food security, climate change and conflict in Africa."

"Alice Thomas, climate displacement manager for Refugees International, said tens of thousands of destitute Malians are pouring into countries already hit hard by starvation, lack of water and crop failures. Speaking from Dakar, Senegal, after two weeks assessing camps in Niger and Burkina Faso, Thomas said communities have opened up their villages to Malian refugees.

But, she and others worried, it could be just a matter of time before the stress from thousands of newcomers -- and their livestock -- reaches a breaking point."

Lisa Friedman reports for ClimateWire May 31, 2012. [2]