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Niger: the worst famine in the country’s history

By on August 17, 2010
Niger might experience the worst food crisis in its history. “Even worse than the famine of 1973 which caused thousands of deaths, Malek Triki, the regional spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP) said.  “They say that it is the worst crisis in living memory “.

According to studies conducted in May and June, 16.7% of children under five suffer from acute malnutrition, concluding then to an emergency in respect to the U.N standards considering any figure higher than 15% is the case. Christy Collins, director of the American NGO, Mercy Corps, stated that drought has destroyed crops and livestock died of hunger and lack of sufficient fodder.

For the WFP, 7.3 million people, nearly half of the total population of this country are in desperate need of food. In the rural areas such as Diffa, says Triki, most people only eat once a day at best.

In 2005, President Mamadou Tandja had downplayed the food crisis, accusing the U.N and NGOs to share the opposition views by exaggerating the famine issue. But after his ouster in February, the military government in control of the country announced the distribution of 21,000 tons of food, and appealed for an international aid to ovoid another human catastrophe…

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