Niger: Food running out, families say

Communities in west and east Niger estimate their food stocks will run out before the next harvest, according to field studies by a group ofseven international aid organisations.

“Hungry season” has already begun

All families surveyed said they were already reducing daily consumption. In a typical year the “hungry season” doesn’t begin until May or June.

The stress on family livelihoods has led to children dropping out of school in one quarter of the communities surveyed.

Respondents said children left school to migrate with their families in search of work. Others said children were looking for work themselves or left because schools were no longer able to provide meals for students.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 15 million people in Niger, Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Senegal and Burkina Faso don’t have enough food - more than five million in Niger alone. 

The United Nations and aid organisations have appealed for US$229 million in funding for Niger for 2012. So far only 40 per cent, US$92 million, has been committed. 

Regional unrest makes situation worse

The situation has been made worse by violence in Mali and Nigeria and returnees from Libya.

Traditionally during tough times, Niger’s men find work in Nigeria and send remittances home. But a series of bombings and killings by a radical group has prompted the government to seal borders with neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels in Mali is compelling tens of thousands of refugees to flee to Mauritania, Niger, and Burkino Faso, putting further pressure on host communities already suffering food shortages.

Food supplies have been drained further by about 90,000 mostly young men who have returned to the region following the rebellion that toppled Moammar Gadhafi in Libya.

“Poor villages have been overwhelmed with people, some expanding seven-fold in just a few months, with refugees forced to live in overcrowded homes and makeshift shacks,” said Chris Palusky, World Vision's food crisis response manager for Mali and Niger. 

“Time is running out to support host families before they themselves reach breaking point.”