15 June 2010: Children are being forced away from home by the food crisis in Niger and into living on the streets and begging, says Plan.

Currently some 7,200,000 people are facing critical hunger in the West African country, triggered by last year’s irregular rains and crop failure. As families struggle, children are being sent long distances away to work for money or food to supplement their family’s income or supplies.

The food crisis is predominately affecting rural families so children are being pulled out of school and sent to towns and cities to find work. This also leaves them at risk of falling into illegal and dangerous work including selling drugs or sex work.

Influx of child beggars

Rheal Drisdelle, Plan Niger’s Country Director, says sending children away to work is just one way of people coping – others include having to cut down on regular meals.

“In Niger, when the family feels threatened they develop coping strategies, and one is to get children earning money or food. They are often taken out of school as an added helping hand, instead of being a ‘burden’ on the family.

“Staff have also been noticing an influx of child beggars in the capital city Niamey. These children are mainly between the ages of 10 and 16, sent away by their families to get money or supplies for the family in urban commercial areas.”

Plan projects

Plan is trying to tackle the perennial problem of food crises in Niger with projects in sustainable gardening and agriculture, drought resistant crop cultivation, grain banks, micro-finance, nutritional centres for mothers and babies, diet and nutrition courses as well as feeding programs in schools.

Plan is also calling on world leaders to fulfill their commitments made at last year’s G8 summit which outlined a $20 billion fund and ‘new approach’ to tackle food security through small-scale, sustainable agriculture.

Notes for editors
Plan Niger is contributing to the global response coordinated by a national food crisis board. To date, 1048.31 tons of food has been distributed to those most in need throughout the 118 vulnerable villages assigned to Plan by the World Food Programme.  This will continue over the next few months.

For more information please contact Stuart Coles on +44 (0)1483 733 211 mobile +44 (0) 7500 066 891 or stuart.coles@plan-international.org