Africa: Flawed aid worsens plight of Sahel - report

Short-sighted and inadequate foreign aid has worsened the plight of millions of people in Africa's parched and poverty-stricken Sahel belt, according to a report commissioned by major charities in the region. The study entitled "Beyond Any Drought", backed by charities including Oxfam and Save the Children, argues that unless aid programmes are overhauled Africa's poorest nations face harsher famines as free-market reforms deepen the roots of poverty.