Showing posts with label Diffa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diffa. Show all posts
Thursday, 22 July 2010
MALNUTRITION: NIGER: Aid caravan for the east
DAKAR, 21 July 2010 (IRIN) - An extraordinary crisis calls for an original response: The authorities and aid organizations in Diffa, eastern Niger, are planning to hit the road with a humanitarian caravan to help 35,000 people and weakened cattle next week. "It will be like an airdrop, but with vehicles. We will bring food to people, fodder to animals and medication. We will offer cash for weakened animals and will try to save those that can be saved," said the head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Diffa, Sylvain Musafiri, who participated in an assessment with the government and aid organizations last week. Musafiri called on humanitarian agencies to pool their resources, rapidly and on the government to officially grant its support to the mission. In northern Diffa, the drought that led to a drop in cereal production and poor pastoral conditions [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89575] has already killed half the livestock, according to the assessment, and only a fifth of the 45,000 animals counted in February 2010 may be alive by the end of this month. The report says opportunities to save animals are diminishing by the day and the focus should switch to helping people who have experienced livestock losses and hunger. According to the government, 90 percent of the population of the region depends on livestock. "We have seen a catastrophe. There are dead animals everywhere. Some stockbreeders have lost nearly all their cattle and are losing their mind. People have been eating animal grains, but they have none left by now," said Mani Adamou from the government's technical service division. Half of Niger's 13.4 million inhabitants are facing hunger, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89598].
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Niger malnutrition
U.N. seeks $133 million to combat Niger food crisis
By George FominyenReutersWednesday, April 7, 2010; 12:59 PM
DAKAR (Reuters) -The United Nations needs an extra $133 million to tackle food shortages and malnutrition in Niger that have already triggered massive displacements of people from their villages, the world body said on Wednesday.
Some 7.8 million people, or nearly 60 percent of the West African country's population, are running out of food after erratic rainfall last year caused crops to fail, according to a national survey conducted in December.
Relief groups say Niger, one of the world's poorest nations, is the center of a wider food crisis in the sub-Saharan Sahel region that could be the worst in at least five years.
"It is more than the right time to take serious humanitarian action," Khardiata Lo N'Diaye, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Niger said in a statement. The United Nations said it needs the cash to reach a target of $190 million for the Niger crisis.
The world body forecasts more than 1.5 million cases of malnutrition in children under five in the next year unless urgent action is taken. Another 35,000 cases of malnutrition are expected among pregnant and lactating women, it said.
The requested funds would support emergency distribution of food, water, and medical treatment after the government of Niger called for international help with the crisis in March.
Food shortages have already drive masses of people to flee rural areas into towns and neighboring countries and emptied schools in the severely affected southeastern regions of Zinder and Diffa, according to U.N. officials.
Food shortages have also hit neighboring Chad, where authorities said 2 million people were at risk. Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria are also facing food shortages.
UNICEF says more than 850,000 children under five will need to be treated for severe acute malnutrition in the Sahel requiring $50 million in aid, of half of which is available. The Sahel region has been plagued by cyclical droughts and severe food shortages since the 1970s. The most serious food crisis in the last decade occurred in 2005, affecting millions in Niger, Nigeria, and Mali.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/07/AR2010040702840_pf.html
By George FominyenReutersWednesday, April 7, 2010; 12:59 PM
DAKAR (Reuters) -The United Nations needs an extra $133 million to tackle food shortages and malnutrition in Niger that have already triggered massive displacements of people from their villages, the world body said on Wednesday.
Some 7.8 million people, or nearly 60 percent of the West African country's population, are running out of food after erratic rainfall last year caused crops to fail, according to a national survey conducted in December.
Relief groups say Niger, one of the world's poorest nations, is the center of a wider food crisis in the sub-Saharan Sahel region that could be the worst in at least five years.
"It is more than the right time to take serious humanitarian action," Khardiata Lo N'Diaye, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Niger said in a statement. The United Nations said it needs the cash to reach a target of $190 million for the Niger crisis.
The world body forecasts more than 1.5 million cases of malnutrition in children under five in the next year unless urgent action is taken. Another 35,000 cases of malnutrition are expected among pregnant and lactating women, it said.
The requested funds would support emergency distribution of food, water, and medical treatment after the government of Niger called for international help with the crisis in March.
Food shortages have already drive masses of people to flee rural areas into towns and neighboring countries and emptied schools in the severely affected southeastern regions of Zinder and Diffa, according to U.N. officials.
Food shortages have also hit neighboring Chad, where authorities said 2 million people were at risk. Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria are also facing food shortages.
UNICEF says more than 850,000 children under five will need to be treated for severe acute malnutrition in the Sahel requiring $50 million in aid, of half of which is available. The Sahel region has been plagued by cyclical droughts and severe food shortages since the 1970s. The most serious food crisis in the last decade occurred in 2005, affecting millions in Niger, Nigeria, and Mali.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/07/AR2010040702840_pf.html
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