malnutrition in the towns of Gao and Kidal in April. Low and erratic rainfall in 2009 had occurred in Timbuktu, Kidal, and Gao, leading to a heavy regional drought. Hundreds of refugees moved to Gao from Burkina Faso and Niger, but were now too weak with starvation to leave Mali. The UN and Mali's government asked the developed nations for food aid and financial help in the face of the growing humanitarian crisis. The amount taken in Nigeria's harvest was down by 65,000 tonnes, whilst Niger had virtually nothing to take from their harvest. On 8 June 2010, France food aid to and the European Union pledged an additional $28,000,000 million to help the millions of victims in the Niger, the Chad, Burkina Faso, and northern Nigeria. The charity Save the Children sent a team to Aguie in Niger, 850 km north east from the capitol Niamey, to set up an aid centre on the 8th and reported back on the 9th than 350,000 children faced severe malnutrition. On 9 June, various groups of hydrologists, geologists and scientists in the Sahara desert used magnetic imaging technology when looking for aquifer sites for drilling water wells in Eastern Chad. Both northern Mali, southern Libya, southern Algeria, eastern Chad were being examined in part of an ongoing project to find viable drilling as the region's nations try to find new water sources to keep up with their growing demand. In recent years, roughly 300,000 refugees have arrived from both the war-torn Sudan and ailing Central African Republic, thus straining the already limited water supplies. Both Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger have shown a major interest in the further development of this resource lead local industry. On 11 June 2010, the UN's World Food Organisation, Oxfam and MSF all warned of an impending famine in Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and northern Nigeria. Niger's Diffa Region was of the most concern to the experts at hand. By 13 June 2010, roughly 30% of crops failed in some of Niger's provinces. A new heat wave hit Niger on 21 June, causing an increased area of drought in that country as well. Niger's crops failed and famine occurred. About 350,000 faced starvation and 1,200,000 were at risk of famine according to the Niger's government, while the UN said roughly 2,000,000 Chadians, 7,000,0000 Nigerians and 1,000,000 other people of the Sahel region faced starvation