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Niger could face another food crisis in coming months

By Ingvild Langhus, ACT International

Niger, West Africa, February 24, 2006--Last year, the international aid community narrowly avoided a massive famine in Niger after alarm bells were rung to alert the world of a major food crisis. Now, several months later, the country could be facing another crisis. Within the next two to three months there will again be critical food shortages in Niger.

In response to last year’s crisis, which affected extensive parts of the country and was triggered by drought and swarms of locusts that destroyed crops, members of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International have been working to improve the availability of food and contribute to preventing a new catastrophe.

Two ACT members, U.S.-based Lutheran World Relief (LWF) and HEKS (Swiss Interchurch Aid), have been carrying out the ACT response that has included providing immediate food assistance and resources to improve future food security.

In September, LWR president Kathryn Wolford said after a visit to Niger, “Even though the food crisis has faded from the headlines, it still continues and needs our constant attention.”

ACT members are again growing concerned about the precarious situation the country is still in, and a new ACT appeal, to follow the one first issued last July, is planned. Their concerns echo warnings from other non-governmental organizations working in Niger that there will be food shortages again in two to three months when the food supplies run out. This time the situation may be worse than that experienced in 2005. LWR and HEKS are preparing for the looming situation by supplying cereal banks and seeds to remote and vulnerable villages.

The challenges are vast, and many people are affected. There is a large need for funding assistance to help the affected population in the immediate term. However, there is an even larger need for ensuring food security and political support for prevention of future crises through training and changes in agricultural practices adapted to the changes in environment.

Many people have started to find alternative sources of income and food by changing the ways they grow crops. Off-season agriculture during the dry season from December to May has become particularly important. Several projects supported by ACT, through LWR and HEKS, focus on training in off-season agriculture and income generation in addition to food distribution in order to make its response sustainable.

The United Nations is awaiting approval from the government of Niger before it can again assist the population. U.N. food distributions stopped in December 2005 after Niger’s president criticized international organisations for bulldozing into his country with support without coordinating with the government. In the meantime, smaller NGOs like LWR and HEKS and their local partners have been trying to prevent a new famine in the areas where they are working.

Digging themselves deeper

For the last several years, farmers in Niger have not produced enough crops, especially in the districts of Tahoua, Maradi, Zinder and Tillaberry, which have had little or no harvest the last seven years.

Last year’s harvest will last for less than four months. Until the next crop is ready, the population must find other sources of food or take out loans. The agricultural deficit increases every year, and the situation is critical for more than three million people in this country of 11 million.

Millet is the main crop, representing 80 percent of agricultural production. Millet is also the staple diet that people depend on and often use as currency. Many people in rural areas take out loans to buy food during hard times, borrowing against their future crops. Loans are repaid at harvest time when the price of millet is at its lowest, meaning they have to sell more millet to repay their loans. And so families are left with even less food and are caught in a vicious cycle of debt and food insecurity.

A matter of honor

There are additional factors that further exacerbate the situation. During the hardest periods many men migrate to neighbouring countries, hoping to find work so they can earn money to buy food for their families. However, migration rarely benefits the family, as most of the money earned is spent on paying for the travel. A local leader spoke of a man who was out of the country for two years and brought back enough money to feed the family for only two months.

While the men are gone, the women must work and provide for their families during the hardest times of the year. For men, it is a matter of honor to be able to feed their family. Not being able to provide food for one’s family brings shame, and society considers them unsuccessful. Therefore, many men prefer to migrate to other countries to try to earn an income instead of staying behind and see their family starve.

With many men away from home, women carry much of the burden during the hardest periods. They are responsible for fetching water in addition to the agricultural work during both the rainy season and the off-season. Some have to walk two to seven kilometres to get water and wood for their household. In addition, they cook, grind flour, tend the animals and take care of the whole family.

The hands of women look older than their faces. Their hands are marked from long days of hard work. The average number of children per woman is eight, and most girls start having children at the age of 15. Women in Niger are considered old when they are 40 years, only a few reach the age of 50.

In this country that scores lowest on the U.N. Human Development Index, helping to steer millions of people away from another looming crisis is an enormous task. But for some, in slow and steady ways, methods are being found to make any new crisis have less of an impact than the last one.

Ingvild Langhus is a program coordinator for West Africa for Norwegian Church Aid, a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International.