'Potter' star Bonnie Wright raises awareness of food crisis in Africa as Oxfam ambassador

Recently, Bonnie Wright - who portrayed Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films - spent time on a trip to Western Africa to learn more about the food crisis currently existing. The Oxfam ambassador spoke this morning with Sky News about her trip and how governments can help the situation.

There is a video of this interview with Sky News right here.

Oxfam has reported that around one million children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and, with the next harvest not due unitl the fall, the situation in the region is getting worse.

Bonnie visited Kedougou in southern Senegal to meet vulnerable families who are counting on humanitarian assistance to survive. She stated, "When I arrived in Senegal it was hard to see that this was a country where thousands of people are suffering from extreme hunger. Where you may expect the landscape to be dry and dusty, in fact everywhere was green and lush. I quickly learnt however that this green was hiding the reality, a deep-seated hunger that was so present in the lives of the families I spoke to."

Bonnie added, "What's even louder sometimes than money is people's voices and by pushing your own government to put this into their agenda it's almost more powerful, it's much more global with the effect it can have."

David Cameron is to hold a hunger summit on August 12, which will coincide with the closing day of the Olympics. The summit has been designed to kick-start a joint effort by world leaders to address the issues of hunger and malnutrition.

It comes after former England footballer David Beckham presented the Prime Minister with an open letter, co-signed by Unicef supporters, to put a "global spotlight on our nation to make children around the world the real winners of these Games".

Bonnie recently sent this message to her fans on Twitter regarding this crisis:

Do something good today and sign the #Sahel2012 appeal petition. It takes seconds! http://sahel2012.org/

You can follow Bonnie Wright on Twitter right here.