No. 954: The Niger Food Crisis

This is a consolidation of recent reports on the massive food shortage in Niger. There is list below of agencies that accept donations on this crisis:

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 56 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries. WFP -- We Feed People.

WFP Global School Feeding Campaign - For just 19 US cents a day, you can help WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school - a gift of hope for a brighter future.

Niger needs your help. To make an online donation, visit http://www.wfp.org/helpnigernow
For all the latest updates on WFP's emergency operation in Niger, visit http://www.wfp.org/newsoom

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Chris Endean
WFP/Rome
Tel. +39-06-65132108
Mob +39-06-155 7630

Stefanie Savariaud
WFP/Niger
Tel. +227 722320
Mob +227 403947

Simon Pluess
WFP/Geneva
Tel. +41-22-9178564
Mob. +41-797743821

Trevor Rowe
WFP/New York
Tel. +1-212-9635196
Mob. +1-6468241112
rowe@un.org

Gregory Barrow
WFP/London
Tel. +44-20-75929292
Mob +44-7968-008474
WITH STARVATION LOOMING IN NIGER, UN LAUNCHES EMERGENCY FOOD AIRLIFT
New York, Jul 27 2005 11:00AM
With the international humanitarian response to looming starvation in Niger gathering pace, the United Nations World Food Programme (http://www.wfp.org/newsroom/subsections/preview.asp?content_item_id=2539&item_id=1350&section=13
WFP) announced today a series of airlifts to deliver life-saving emergency rations to 80,000 victims of the impoverished West African country's intensifying emergency.

"Whether it's by air, land or sea, the food cannot arrive a moment too soon. We are working flat out to deliver rations and help provide relief for some of the worst hunger I have ever witnessed," said Giancarlo Cirri, WFP Country Director for Niger, which has suffered the double blow of a poor rainy season and devastation to its crops and grazing land from the worst locust invasion in 15 years.

With 1.2 million people at risk of starvation and food stocks dwindling, WFP's logistics operation has five weeks to deliver 23,000 tons of food to 19 districts on the frontline of the country's second-worst hunger crisis in history. As Niger's food shortages stretch traditional coping mechanisms to their limit, these numbers could grow even bigger.

The first aircraft will take off tomorrow morning from WFP's humanitarian response depot in Brindisi, Italy, delivering 44 tons of high-energy biscuits to Niger's capital Niamey, the first of three that WFP is sending to Niamey over the coming days. The cargo will also include mobile warehouses, generators and 4x4 vehicles.

From Niamey a convoy of trucks will carry the biscuits along the 660-kilometre desert road to Maradi in the south, one of the hardest hit areas of the country. Starting 1, WFP is also planning a series of airlifts to shift 200 tons of Corn Soya Blend, used in supplementary feeding, direct from Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire to Niamey.

WFP alerted donors to the growing need for emergency aid as far back as November 2004, but until recently the international community failed to heed warnings from humanitarian organizations that the prolonged drought and locust infestation had left some 2.5 million people on the brink of starvation.

In the past week, media images of the devastating human consequences of what was earlier called Niger's "Silent Emergency" have finally galvanized the donor community. WFP's logistics operation is intensifying efforts to deliver the growing influx of emergency food aid to the landlocked country.

Earlier this week, a 25-strong convoy of lorries loaded with 996 tons of rice and 550 tons of pulses - vital components in WFP's food rations - set-off along the 800-kilometre road from the port of Lome in Togo to Niamey - a five-day journey. In total, over 2,000 tons of food is currently on the road to WFP's non-governmental organization partners (NGOs) who are distributing the food to the worst-affected areas.

"We're talking about huge distances but the transport network is relatively good. The real problem has not been getting the food to the hungry but getting the donations to pay for the food," WFP's chief logistics officer Pierre Carrasse said.

2005-07-27 00:00:00.000

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United Nations World Food Programme
News Release

27 July 2005

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME AIRLIFTS LIFE-SAVING RATIONS TO NIGER
ROME - As the international humanitarian response to Niger's severe hunger crisis gathers pace, the United Nations World Food Programme announced today that a series of airlifts will deliver life-saving emergency rations to feed 80,000 victims of the country's intensifying emergency.

An Ilyushin 76 aircraft will take off from WFP's humanitarian response depot in Brindisi, southern Italy, on Thursday morning, delivering 44 metric tons of high-energy biscuits to Niger's capital Niamey. The airlift will be the first of three that WFP is sending to Niamey over the coming days.

In addition to the biscuits, the planes' cargo will also include mobile warehouses, generators and 4x4 vehicles.

With 1.2 million people at risk of starvation and food stocks dwindling, WFP's logistics operation has five weeks to deliver 23,000 tonnes of food to 19 districts on the frontline of the country's second-worst hunger crisis in history. As Niger's food shortages stretch traditional coping mechanisms to their limit, these numbers could grown even bigger.

WFP alerted donors to the growing need for emergency aid as far back as November 2004. However, until recently, the international community had failed to heed warnings from humanitarian organisations that prolonged drought and locust infestation had destroyed crops and livestock across Niger, leaving some 2.5 million people on the brink of starvation.

In the past week, media images of the devastating human consequences of Niger's earlier-called "Silent Emergency" have finally galvanised the donor community. WFP's logistics operation is intensifying efforts to deliver the growing influx of emergency food aid to a landlocked country.

The first Brindisi flight will reach Niamey on Thursday afternoon, from where a convoy of trucks will carry the biscuits along the 660-kilometre desert road to Maradi in the south, one of the hardest hit areas of the country.

Starting August 1, the Agency is also planning a series of airlifts to shift 200 tonnes of Corn Soya Blend, used in supplementary feeding, direct from Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire to Niamey.

Earlier this week, a 25-strong convoy of lorries loaded with 996 tonnes of rice and 550 tonnes of pulses - vital components in WFP's food rations for Niger - set-off along the 800-kilometre road from the port of Lome in Togo destined for Niamey - a five-day journey.

In total, over 2,000 tonnes of food aid is currently on the road to WFP's non-governmental organisation partners (NGOs) who are distributing the food to the worst-affected areas through nutritional feeding centres and free food distributions. WFP aims to deliver 4,220 tonnes to its NGO partners by the end of the week.

To help boost its dwindling stocks in Niger, WFP has established a number of humanitarian routes into the country, with most of the aid reaching Niamey via three ports in neighbouring countries: Lome, Accra in Ghana and Cotonou in Benin.

"We're talking about huge distances but the transport network is relatively good. The real problem has not been getting the food to the hungry but getting the donations to pay for the food," said Pierre Carrasse, WFP's chief logistics officer.

Despite the increase in the number of donations, WFP's US$16 million relief operation for Niger has confirmed donations of only US$9 million - a 43.3 percent shortfall.

In addition to multilateral donations amounting to US$1.8 million, donors include: Germany (US$1.5 million); United States (US$1.5 million); Italy (US$1.2 million); Europaid (US$1.2 million); UK (US$912,000); New Zealand (US$349,650; Luxembourg (US$323,000); Denmark (US$279,000); Switzerland (US$39,062); private donors (Veolia, US$12,000; Petronas US$20,000).

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BBC Report
Niger's president in famine zone

Niger's President Mamadou Tanja has visited the country's south, where severe food shortages are affecting at least 2.5 million people.
His government has been defending its handling of the crisis, saying its appeals for international assistance in November went unanswered.

The UN says 150,000 children could die following last year's disastrous crop.

The charity Oxfam said families were feeding their children grass and leaves from trees to keep them alive.

A government official told the BBC: "We have made an appeal since November and told the international community... We did not have any response."

Critics accuse Niger of being slow to call for help compared to other countries in the region which also experienced poor rains and plagues of locusts eating their crops.

Tortured bodies

Malnourished people are arriving every day at the few feeding centres in the region.

But the BBC's Hilary Andersson in southern Niger says fewer than one in 10 of the starving make it to the centres.

Niger is the example of a neglected emergency, where early warnings went unheeded
Jan Egeland

Top United Nations aid official Jan Egeland on Wednesday accused the international community of reacting slowly to the crisis in Niger.

The crisis was widely predicted after last year's poor harvests, following poor rains and locust invasions.

"Niger is the example of a neglected emergency, where early warnings went unheeded," Mr Egeland told the BBC.

In June, the Niger government refused demands to distribute free food and has been criticised for not doing more to prepare for the food shortages.

'Too late'

"The world wakes up when we see images on the TV and when we see children dying," Mr Egeland told the BBC's World Today programme.

Europeans eat ice cream for $10bn a year and Americans spend $35bn on their pets each year
UN's Jan Egeland

"We have received more pledges in the past week than we have in six months. But it is too late for some of these children."

The slow response has greatly increased the cost of dealing with the crisis, aid workers say.

"The funding needs are sky-rocketing because it's a matter of saving lives," UN World Food Programme Niger representative Gian Carlo Cirri said.

"The pity is we designed a preventative strategy early enough, but we didn't have the chance to implement it."

Aid shortfall

Aid workers in Niger say that up to a quarter of Niger's 12 million people need food aid.

The UN has now received just a third of the $30m it had asked for, Mr Egeland said.

The UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs also said that beyond immediate food aid, the world should help Niger improve its agricultural methods to avoid future food crises - but this programme had received even fewer pledges.

He said the $30m requested for both short - and long-term aid "was nothing".
"Europeans eat ice cream for $10bn a year and Americans spend $35bn on their pets each year."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4698943.stm
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Niger food crisis to spread to neighbors

NIAMEY, Niger, July 26 (UPI) -- The United Nations says the food crisis in Niger, which had been predicted since the locust attack last year, could spread to its neighbors

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The world body says Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania are threatened by a similar crises because they too have been hit by the locusts followed by a drought, the BBC reported Tuesday.

About 2.5 million people in these West African nations are reported to be in immediate need of food aid. Food aid has begun to arrive in the worst hit southern areas of Niger, where about 250,000 are to be fed in the next few days.