UN: Help needed as food crisis threatens Niger

UN: Help needed as food crisis threatens Niger

2011-01-21 08:33:05 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- Acute malnutrition rates remain high despite a good harvest in Niger, while millions need help to avoid another food crisis, the United Nations warned Thursday.

The Government of Niger, supported by the UN, launched a massive humanitarian intervention last year which averted the effects of a food crisis that threatened the lives of more than seven million people.

The World Food Programme delivered emergency food assistance to more than 5 million people, while the Food and Agriculture Organization provided 13,000 tonnes of animal feed and distributed over 3,400 tonnes of quality seeds, covering 94 per cent of affected villages.

A good rainy season in 2010 also helped to increase the production of domestic cereal by 60 per cent.

The acute malnutrition rate, however, was still above 15 per cent in most parts of the country in October and November, reaching 17 per cent in the area around Niger’s largest cities, Agadez and Zinder, according to a report by UN agencies.

The agencies are calling for immediate assistance to help replenish livestock, restoring cereal banks and reconstituting the national grain stock.

Assistance needs to begin immediately, they stressed, so that farmers will have the necessary quality seeds and fertilizers before the next planting season that starts in May.

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