Food crisis in Sahel

Oxfam is an international organization, based in Oxford in the United Kingdom, they work with various international communities to find ways to eradicate poverty and free those enslaved by it by enabling them to exercise their basic human rights. In December 2011, a blogpost was posted on the Oxfam website which discussed the food crisis in Sahel.

The blogpost targeted the people living across west and central Africa, informing them that the possibility of a food crisis may strike them in 2012. The post warns the people that if no action is commenced in order to prevent this disaster from occurring then history will repeat itself, yes the repetition of the 2005,2008 and 2010 crisis's will happen again. However, the possibility of more than 10 million people will be affected. It is discussed further that there still may be salvation for west and central Africa, simply by educating others that the mistakes of the past can be avoided by preparing for external shocks.

In general, the key idea of the post is to inform not only the residents of west and central Africa but also the public that the situation must be dealt with, this is done through the use of and the plans that Oxfam plan's to see through. By branching out and reaching the general public they are persuading the public to help promote and support their organization, alongside getting them to donate and invest to their charity. Oxfam's humanitarian aid is clarified in the text along with the goals they hope to reach.

The post creates a very unifying ambience, it does this by referring to both Oxfam and the reader as a team, which breaks away from a business relationship and makes it more of a personal one. Overall the general goal is to inform people of an upcoming natural disaster that could affect the lives of numerous people. This is done through the use of various statistics to make the situation more realistic, an example of this would be “Recent reports said over 5.4 million people (35% of population) in Niger...” By providing such statistics it aids the enhancement of the depressing and saddening reality of our world.

Throughout the entire blogpost the use of ethos, pathos and logos are used to enhance the message of Oxfam's blogpost. Pathos is displayed in the blogpost as the basic description of the entire situation is emotionally effective, due to the general fact that as humans we generally feel empathy and sympathy in these situations. This is done through the use of the photograph placed in the blogpost, it shows an African person riding a donkey in a barren environment, this helps the audience depict the situation and helps draw more attention towards what the people are suffering from and going through. Logos is used statistically throughout the post hence allowing the realization of the serious damage that this food crisis may cause, as numerous statistics are used. Due to Oxfam's reputation, and what they stand for they are seen and respected very highly by everyone, causing the ethos affect to occur.

In conclusion, due to Oxfam being an international organization, who work with various international communities to find ways to cease poverty and free those enslaved by it, they have created a blogpost which would cause people to take action and help those in need simply by using ethos, pathos and logos along with involving their targeted audience. By doing so this will cause the targeted audience to feel like they can make a change in not only our societies but our world aswell, all by stating unification.