Niger: a critical time
I travelled to one of the communities at highest risk during this food crisis in Niger. Our distribution there is working, but the coming harvest still depends on the rains. Will they come?
Travelling
Concern country director Niall Tierney and I left Niamey early in the morning for a one hour flight to Tahoua, our operational base in Niger since 2003. After visiting the Concern office to meet the staff, we set off again, this time with Amanda McClelland.
Amanda is managing the mitigation project, dealing with Concern’s response to the worsening food situation. We visited one of the villages, Samo, where food is being distributed.
Vulnerable communities
We travelled for mile after mile through desert and semi-desert lands with almost no trees or vegetation. This project – funded by Irish Aid and ECHO, the European Humanitarian agency – is supporting 116 of the most vulnerable villages in the Tahoua district.
Four hundred volunteers have been mobilised to encourage women in these villages to come with their children to feeding centres organised by Concern.
Rations
All eligible beneficiaries will receive a basic food ration. But women with moderately malnourished children will receive supplementary rations. Severely malnourished children will be referred, with support from Concern, to the Ministry of Health hospital in Tahoua.
Gathering
The feeding centre was bustling with colourfully dressed women and their children. In one day, it provided food for 1,300 women. In addition to receiving much needed food, the women also used the gathering to do some small trading and catch up with their friends.
Sharp increase
But underlying this good cheer, the reality is that the numbers of moderately malnourished children at these centres has sharply increased in the five weeks since our feeding programme started. We are monitoring these statistics very carefully as we move into the “hungry months” of June to October.
Essential rain
The rains are due to start in early June and indeed some rain has fallen in recent days, bringing welcome relief from the 40 degree plus temperatures. But the rains, which are so crucial to the next harvest, could also increase the spread of malaria, affecting malnutrition levels.
The next few weeks in Niger are critical.
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Comments
I cannot believe that extreme poverty is still going on to this day I have seen adverts on television showing starving children and their parents for the last 4 decades now and I can't help but feel very angry and dissapointed with Government leaders from wealthier countries that they have actually sat back and allowed this to still be happening What's wrong with these people, they don't have the ongoing worry and fear of waking up every morning without as simple a thing as some food and clean water. Again I stress What's wrong with these people? I have lost faith in both Irish Government leaders and leaders across Europe and even the world how dare they let this continue I'm only one person who feels this way but i'm sure there are many others out there across the world who would most definately agree with what I'm saying In my opinion there should be some type of law against letting people starve like this it has been going on far too long now I really hope they get the rain they need this year for they're crops and maybe some day this will all be a distant memory for them and for all of us out there trying to really help them as best we can and Government leaders stop hiding from the truth and reality of it all and actually do something right for a change. Thanks.
I agree with the person that posted the above comment. It is a disgrace. Unfortunately there are millions of disgraces all over the world and they continure from one generation to the next. I worked in Niger 40 years ago and famine was a feature then. All the food management systems that the French had put in place to cater for bad harvest years were already defunked. Result continuing famine when the rains failed. What 'Concern' could do to help this is to identify what needs to be done to provide a permanent solution to the problem --- a lack of water. It is simply no use to go on providing food year after year without trying to provide the means by which these communities can self sustain. What are the solutions?
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