Government takes lead in combating hunger

Niger's government has secured international financial backing for its measures to boost rural food supplies and support to increase access to information that could help the country tackle long-term structural problems. Niger, a landlocked desert state in north-central Africa, topped international news headlines last year when failed rains and a locust invasion combined with high market prices for staples created the country’s worst food shortages in recent years. The United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) estimates 70 percent of Niger’s 13 million people lives below the poverty line, and deems 3.8 million Nigeriens “undernourished”. At a press conference on Monday, Nigerien Prime Minister Hama Amadou said the annual rainy season, which started in late July, is so far on track to provide a good growing season to restock food supplies. Nonetheless, the government is making cut-price cereals available to those who need help recovering from last year’s shortages. “We have taken the decision that all the villages and communes that had feeding problems last year will have access to pre-positioned staples,” Amadou said. On Tuesday, the European Union (EU) and France announced they will provide euro 15 million (US $19.3 million) and CFA 656 million (US $1.3 million) respectively to reinforce the national food security plan, and WFP signed an agreement with the government to help restock the cereal banks. Agencies found Nigerien markets were well stocked with food, as in food crises elsewhere in Africa, but without crops and animals to sell or barter, most families could not afford even basic supplies. The government has also said it wants assistance tackling the underlying reasons that make it difficult for many Nigeriens to predict where their next meal will come from. On Tuesday, the government signed an agreement for the relocation of a UN information management centre from Senegal’s capital Dakar to Niamey. Ari Malla, the head of the prime minister’s cabinet, said at the signing ceremony the Niger government requested the transfer because it needs a “reliable” source of information on the country’s structural problems. The government has already launched a project to stop the creeping desert swallowing more agricultural land, by employing youths to plant trees which will root the earth in place. A similar project to build a “green belt” around the capital of another West African country, Mauritania, stopped an entire city being overrun by sand. On Monday Prime Minister Amadou announced 18,000 tonnes of fertiliser has been bought by the government for sale below market prices to the 85 percent of Nigeriens rely on subsistence agriculture for survival. A 100 kg sack will cost CFA 10,000 (US $20) for Nigeriens, a saving of CFA 4,000 (US $7). The government has also recently sacked government ministers following corruption allegations, and pushed ahead with economic liberalisation despite frequent strikes by disgruntled workers. sa/nr/ss