DAPAONG, 1 January 2009 (IRIN) - Residents in Togo's northern Savanes region say when it is dry here, not a drop of water can be found for kilometres. But when the floods come, nothing holds back the storms' fury.

Koni Kolani from the prefect Tandjoare told IRIN flooding in 2007 tore down her house, killed 30 poultry she was raising and wiped out her millet and corn crops. "People who don't live here think that when the rains stop the suffering ends. But after storms carry away our livelihoods is when our problems begin."

Deadly flooding in September 2007 affected more than 100,000 Togolese, mostly in Savanes, according to the government.

One year later

Kolani said her family has built a barrier to protect their field from flooding; her house is partially repaired.

For the past two months, she has brought her son to the Lotogou health clinic where she picks up 250g of enriched flour for him every 15 days, provided by WFP.

The clinic's doctor, Leonard Kazie Abalo, recorded the two-year-old boy's weight in mid-December at 7.3kg, a 0.2-kilogram increase from two weeks before. "We celebrate these tenths. But for some of these malnourished children, diarrhoea can quickly wipe out nutritional gains," said Abalo.

The clinic serves an area with almost 9,000 people spread over eight villages; some come from up to 10km away.

Savanes is ranked as the country's poorest region with 90 percent of the population – more than 650,000 people – either unemployed or earning only a fraction of the average US$360 per year annual income, according to a 2006 government study.

There are more than 350 under-five children in Lotogou village, based on a regional census. From that group, 36 are malnourished according to health clinic records, including four severe cases. "Year round, there is about five percent under-five malnutrition here," said clinic director Abalo, "During the rainy season the rate is about 15 percent or higher."

Resources

Abalo told IRIN that though some farmers are able to grow food despite the region's poor soil, they quickly sell it. "They need that money for school and health expenses."

A medical visit costs 20 US cents, and the average cost of medicine per visit is $3, the doctor said.

It is the same with animals, said Abalo. "We have herders, but they do not keep and consume their animals. They sell them to Togolese and Ghanaian traders."

But even when local herders keep their animals, many refuse to feed their children meat or dairy products, said Martine Somoko with the recently-opened WFP office in Dapaong – the administrative capital of Savanes region. "Village lore has it that animal products will corrupt and turn children toward crime. We have to teach them that protein saves lives, and that it is the false village taboo that can kill."

The average acute malnutrition rate for children under five in 2006 was 32 percent, based on a government study that is currently being re-evaluated.

Aid picks up

Following allegations of gross human rights abuses in the 1990s under then President Eyadéma Gnassingbé, major donors cut back or pulled out entirely, including WFP, which had offered only emergency aid.

Following legislative elections in October 2007 that were judged largely free and fair, Togo's largest bilateral donor, the European Commission, and others have stepped forward with debt relief, pledges and renewed cooperation agreements.

As of 1 January 2009 WFP is considering a three-year programme that would fund school feeding, expand nutrition programmes and develop an early warning system for food shortages.

For the director of the government's regional bureau of development in Savanes, Pakedame Nam, donor cuts for almost 15 years - like the region's weather extremes - were destructive, but not necessarily deadly. "If this [donor cuts] had happened in neighbouring countries, you would see mass graves there. But we are still standing," said the director.

"We have come out somewhat battered, but we tried to keep schools and clinics open, people fed. We will rise from this storm, as we have before."

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