ACT News Update

Niger 02/05

Geneva, August 25, 2005—“This is an urgent crisis that needs immediate attention," said Kathryn Wolford, the president of US-Lutheran World Relief (LWR)—one of two members of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International responding to the food crisis in Niger. “We are addressing the immediate needs of the people there, but also looking toward the longer term."

Coordinating its response with ACT member Swiss Interchurch Aid (HEKS), LWR-ACT is distributing supplemental food rations to some 93,000 people in villages in Maradi, Tillaberi and Tahoua, which are among the areas worst affected by the food crisis.

Not only do people not have enough food, there is little feed for livestock, and animals are also starving to death at frightening rates. Farming families—82 percent of the population—are facing difficulty in sowing crops for next year. They lack seeds, and many are so weakened by hunger they are unable to labor in the fields. In some cases, the only option is to eat what grows wild.

Last year's poor rains and swarms of locusts plunged Niger—one of the world's poorest nations—into crisis, putting nearly 3.5 million people at risk of starvation, a third of them children. A prolonged drought only worsened the deep poverty in the country. In total in the country, some 3,800 villages out of 10,000 are in dire need of emergency food aid. Even when food is available in the market, those at risk are too poor to purchase it.

Halima Ousmane, a woman from the Tillaberi region, displayed leaves from a plant and the dried berries she and her family had resorted to eating. She said, "The berries have to be soaked in water for seven days, and they still taste bitter. But, at least they make our stomachs feel full." She continued, "The berries and leaves do not provide enough nourishment for the children who are becoming more vulnerable to malaria and frequent bouts of diarrhea."

Help has begun to arrive

LWR-ACT is working with local partner organizations in Maradi, Tillaberi and Tahoua, which are among the areas worst affected by the food crisis. "We are grateful to our international church network, Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, which is mobilizing resources to help LWR greatly expand our existing programs to reach more people," said Wolford.

Food is purchased from local markets in Niger and neighboring markets in Nigeria, and distributed through village committees that LWR-ACT has organized through its ongoing community-development programs. “This is a real strength, since the committees already know and are trusted by the villagers to handle the distributions fairly and transparently," added Wolford.

LWR-ACT's local partner, CEB, works in the Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi and Dosso regions promoting good governance and issues related to health, education, food security and the environment. CEB recently undertook a distribution of 45 tons of food as part of the emergency program funded by LWR-ACT.

CEB's coordinator, Abdoua Mainassara said, "We work with a committee from the village, including representatives from women's groups and community leaders to identify those most vulnerable to the food crisis." Mainassara continued, "In reality, all are vulnerable. But it is important to put into place monitoring processes to ensure that everyone receives the food they need."

HEKS-ACT has been providing emergency assistance since April. HEKS-ACT has been able to serve over 80 villages.

For some, food distributions come too late.

Abdoua Mainassara traveled to Mariakouma, about a 45-minute drive beyond Dakoro, to witness an LWR-ACT food distribution. The population of Mairakouma was clearly anxious to get the food. The condition of some of the children was exceptionally alarming. Many of the children were very thin, clearly in poor health, and some were completely still, staring into space and near death.

Getting medical attention for these children is not easy since the nearest hospital is a three-hour drive away. The Dakoro region needs not only immediate food aid but also medical assistance. Mainassara stated, "The sick generally have no means of getting to a hospital. Even if they can afford it, which normally they cannot, there are no roads to these villages, just tracks in the sand, and very few vehicles pass that way." He continued, "The tragic thing is that there was food in a market approximately 30 kilometers from the village visited, but the people simply do not have the money to buy it."

Long-term improvements are needed

With an agency-wide commitment to addressing the root causes of poverty, not just the symptoms, LWR-ACT will also include longer-term efforts in its Niger response. These plans include the distribution of 10 tons of seed stock for future plantings, repair of five existing grain banks, and construction of 30 new ones. Grain banks will be used to store seeds between harvests, and after the harvest, each household that received seeds will repay one-third of the amount received, provided the harvest is sufficient.

One farmer in the Tillaberi region explained that at this time of the year most people would be spending their time in the field, but are not there now because they are too weak. He doubted if his fields would yield anything in harvest time (October).

"In a severe crisis like this, short-term food aid is needed. At the same time, Niger has chronic food deficits, so it is important that we include measures like village wells for irrigation, grain banks, and replenishment of livestock so that we are helping people build their assets and coping mechanisms," said Evariste Karangwa, LWR-ACT's Africa program director.

Along with the emergency assistance, it is equally important to care for next year. "I normally plant three fields of crops. This year I only had enough seeds to plant one small field," said Hanadou Abouba, a local farmer in the Tillaberi region. He continued, "My adult children left for the city to seek work and I have only been able to tend one-third of the small field I planted. Without working in the field, weeds choke my crops. I know that even if I get a good harvest from what I have managed to tend, I will not have enough food to last my family until next year’s harvest." Like many in the region, his problems are compounding and becoming more severe due to the ongoing drought and locust invasion.

At Kogori village in the Tillaberi region, the current population is almost exclusively children, women and elderly men. The village chief explained that normally people use some of the crop for food and some for planting the following year. However, because of the lack of rain and the invasion of locusts, the community did not produce so much and had to eat the seeds. The government brought some seeds in late May for sale at a low price, but even so, most people could not afford them.

Those who did manage to plant had already given up hope on this year's crop, which has not grown well due to the late rains. Many of the younger men and women had gone to the city to try to get work. LWR-ACT partner, Gyara, pointed out that sometimes the women have had to resort to prostitution in the cities to make enough money to feed their families, exposing them to the risk of HIV.

Food prices escalate

One woman in the village of Kogori, when asked what she and her family would eat, showed the leaves from a wild plant. She explained that she mixed them with millet chaff, which was normally used for animal fodder. She has had to sell off her livestock at low prices just to get enough money to survive for the short term.

Rapidly rising food costs have made it almost impossible for the people of Niger to purchase enough food to feed their families. A staff member of one of LWR-ACT's partners gave an example of the speed with which prices have been rising. Normally he pays 14,000 CFA (approximately US$28) for a 50 kg bag of rice. He recently went to purchase a bag in the market and found it to be 17,000 CFA. He did not have enough money with him to purchase the rice at that price so he went back to the market the next day. The price for that same bag of rice had gone up to 18,000 CFA in one day. The people in rural communities who were already struggling to purchase food are now, almost without exception, finding it impossible.

Many people throughout Niger depend partly on livestock for their income. Now that there is little or no feed for those animals, they have to sell their animals at very low prices. For example, in one village, a HEKS partner reported that one sheep would have been exchanged for one 100 kg sack of millet. Now, one would have to sell three sheep for that same sack of millet.

Throughout Niger, many people will have a hard time surviving until the harvest. But, even after the harvest, problems will likely continue because there were not enough seeds to plant so the planted areas are smaller than normal; the rains this year came late so the crop is not growing properly; people have had to use up all of their reserves, including selling off their livestock; and finally, the fields that were planted are not being worked on fully because people aren't strong enough and the work force has been reduced by family members traveling to the cities in search of work and food.

(Lutheran World Relief contributed to this story.)

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