Thursday 22 April 2010

Niger, WFP increases interventions

As the food security situation worsens in the Eastern Sahel region, WFP is stepping up its interventions in Niger to meet the needs of more than two million hungry people. WFP is planning, for the period from May to October, to provide food for an estimated 2.3 million people under a Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation, said WFP's West Africa Regional Bureau Director Thomas Yanga.
"The West African country of Niger, one of the poorest in the world, is facing a serious food security emergency," he said. "Growing numbers of people are going hungry because of poor harvests following failed rains last year."
This year, the May-September 'lean season' has started much earlier than usual and it is expected to be harsher than usual. This is because poor and erratic rainfall has affected agricultural production and pasture availability in the Eastern Sahel. The food security crisis is being aggravated by high prices, low wages and people selling off their livestock to make ends meet.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-84QP25?OpenDocument

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