Niger Food Emergency Eclipses 2005 Crisis, UN Says

Niger’s current food crisis is already more acute than the one the country experienced in 2005, United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes said. The West African nation, however, is better prepared to address the existing crisis than it was in 2005 partly due to greater government cooperation, he added. “My impression is that (the food crisis) is worse but the good thing is that the alarm is sounded earlier and we are better prepared than in 2005,” Holmes told Reuters. “The government is extremely cooperative and is not in denial, as was the case with the past administration.”Only less than a third of the United Nations’ USD190 million appeal for Niger has so far been funded by donors. To address the current food crisis, the U.N. is teaming up with the Nigerien government to curb malnutrition among children under 2. Under a U.N.-backed blanket feeding operation, some 800 children in southern Niger have received their first of four supplementary food rations. The initiative seeks to reach 500,000 children in communities where acute malnutrition has hit critical levels. The World Food Program is providing some 18 megatons of food for the scheme, which was unveiled following the government’s appeal in March. UNICEF and 13 non-governmental organizations are also supporting the operation.