Niger needs immediate assistance to curb acute malnutrition, which has reached nearly 17 percent of children under the age of 5, UNICEF and the World Food Program said. Nearly half of the African nation’s 7.1 million people are reeling from acute food shortages brought about by drought and crop failure.
“The immediate priority for WFP is to gather all available resources to ensure ameliorated food assistance for beneficiaries from now to December 2010,” said Richard Verbeeck, WFP director in Niger. “The quality and the extent of our operations will depend on the donors’ commitment to attenuate the suffering of populations in Niger.”
Some 46 percent of the USD190 million aid appeal for Niger launched in April has so far been funded.
