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Grain surplus recorded, government says

    ABIDJAN

    Niger has harvested a cereal surplus of nearly 300,000 mt this year, The PanAfrican News Agency (PANA) reported a government statement as saying. The government claim contrasts strongly with the cereal deficit last year, which plunged Niger into serious food difficulties that affected four million people.

    "Cereal production, which is assessed according to international standards, showed a surplus of 297,00 mt," the statement, issued on Tuesday in the capital Niamey, said. The goverment attributes the good harvest to the use of subsidised fertilisers, selected seeds and pesticides, PANA reported. However local inhabitants of some 900 villages have questioned the government's claim, saying that they have experienced a shortfall in cereal production, PANA reported.

    The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) in July appealed for donor support for a US $5-million emergency operation to help 200,000 people affected by malnutrition as a result of poor harvests and prolonged drought in Niger. More than one-third of Niger’s 10 million inhabitants were affected by the shortages which forced thousands of people to leave their villages in search of food.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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