20,000 tons of fodder deficit. He also condemned the world for not doing enough to help the Sahel, but stopped short of Cheminade's idea of pumping water from the Zaire River into Lake Chad to reinvigorate its water supply and stop any further shrinkage. On 24 July, the British Red Cross flew its logistics teams Bristol Airport to Niger to help the army and local officials with transportation. The relief effort has already been made possible by the response to the Red Cross's West Africa Crisis Appeal, which aims to raise £500,000. According to UN agencies, 200,000 children need treatment for malnutrition in Niger alone, as Oxfam put out an £7,000,000 appeal to cover both Chad and Niger. France sent unspecified food and cash aid to Mali on 25 July. On 26 July the heat reached near-record levels over Chad and Niger, and about 20 had reportedly died in northern Niger of dehydration on 27 July. 27 July also saw a critical situation occurring in northern Mali and Chad. About 8,000,0000 Nigerians, 1,600,000 Chadians and 500,000 Malians were on the verge of a major food shortage as the Nigerian journalist Tidiane Kassé said that by tackling the consequences rather than the causes would be a better form of long-term help for the region. On 31 July, leading economists predicted that food prices, especially wheat, would rise in Chad as Russia ends exports due to a domestic drought destroying their wheat and barley harvests. August On 1 August, Gadabeji, Niger suffered 35 °C heat and drought. On 1 August, just under 12,000,000 people in Niger (approximately 80% of the nation's entire population) faced a food supply crisis and possibly even famine conditions. The Tillabéri region is 30 km from the capital, Niamey, on the road to the Saharan town of Timbuktu. Unusually severe rainfall destroyed and then rotted the farmers' crops. Basic food stuffs like maize, millet and sorghum were running out in West Africa's Sahel. Both Chad and northern Nigeria have a similar, but less severe problem. On 3 August, Burkina Faso was hit by a drought, as 4,500,000 Burkinans and 6,700,000 Nigerians faced starvation. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Sudanese Nuer–Dinka war was hampering relief efforts and damaging agricultural output in parts of South Sudan. 10 August saw an Al Jazeera reporter say that 7,500,000 Nigerians were at risk of famine and 15,000,000 could face a famine across