Migration complicates relief effort in Niger
22 June 2010: Plan is set to start a second phase of emergency aid in Niger as the country’s food crisis intensifies.
The NGO has bought 2,500 tonnes of maize from neighbouring Benin to help some of the worst affected families, with distribution expected to start this week.
Along with a 1,000 tonne acquisition from the World Food Programme, Plan will be able to help more than 200,000 people in Tillaberi and Dosso districts.
Logistical challenges
“Our aim is to provide enough in the second round to cover populations’ needs until the harvest,” says Country Director of Plan in Niger, Rheal Drisdelle.
“This is because logistical challenges, posed by the rainy season, would make a third round extremely difficult.”
It comes as statistics released by the Nigerien government claim the shortage of food is worse than first thought.
Plan has just completed a 1,000 tonne distribution of cereal in Tillaberi, western Niger – helping some 73,000 people.
Severely vulnerable
But new figures from the government show that nearly a third (32.4%) of Tillaberi’s population is now what the WFP term “severely food insecure.”
The crisis stems from sporadic and irregular rains during the 2009 agricultural season, with nearly half the country’s population, 7,200,000 people, at risk.
Late planting in many areas and failure of seeds to germinate in others, combined with a long dry spell, caused major disruptions in crop growth.
Some mothers have been reduced to picking wild leaves in order to try and feed their hungry families. Further problems have been caused by mass migration of families to the capital and neighbouring countries.
“This is worrying since these emigrants are likely to miss the planting season, thus putting them at risk of future vulnerability,” says Mr Drisdelle.
Notes for editors
For more information on Plan’s work in Niger contact:
Saidou Arji
Public Relations & Media Coordinator
Plan Niger Tel: +227 20724444/126
Mob: +227 94749847
Skype: saidouarji
E-mail: Saidou.Arji@plan-international.org
