2005–06 Niger food crisis

The 2005-06 Niger food crisis was a severe but localized food security crisis in the regions of northern Maradi, Tahoua, Tillabéri, and Zinder of Niger. It was caused by an early end to the 2004 rains, desert locust damage to some pasture lands, high food prices, and chronic poverty. In the affected area, 2.4 million of 3.6 million people are considered highly vulnerable to food insecurity. An international assessment stated that, of these, over 800,000 face extreme food insecurity and another 800,000 in moderately insecure food situations are in need of aid.

Background

The crisis had long been predicted after swarms of locusts consumed nearly all crops in parts of Niger during the 2004 agricultural season. In other areas, insufficient rainfall resulted in exceptionally poor harvests and dry pastures affecting both farmers and livestock breeders. An assessment carried out by the government of Niger, the United Nations and international Non Governmental Organizations reached a general consensus that the crisis, while locally severe, had not reached the level of famine according to famine scales.

Crisis

According to current estimates, the Sahel region as a whole registered a grain surplus of 85,000 tons. However, Niger and Chad suffered grain deficits of around 224,000 and 217,000 tons, respectively. An increase in food prices is fuelling the food crisis, especially in Niger, where millions of people are facing risk of food shortages and outright starvation.

In the most affected areas of Niger, access to food staples is becoming increasingly difficult and severe cases of child malnutrition have been reported to be on the rise. The scarcity of water and fodder is adversely affecting the health of the cattles, camels, sheep and goats that comprise virtually the only source of food and income for nomadic communities. Competition for limited resources has also resulted in some local conflicts.

Acute malnutrition rates have risen to 13.4 per cent in the southern Niger Maradi and Zinder departments, with 2.5 per cent of this group identified as severely malnourished children under age five, says UNICEF quoting recent nutrition surveys by the United Nations and several non-governmental organizations.

The food shortage impacts some 3.3 million people —including 800,000 children under age five— in some 3,815 villages. Officials estimate cereal deficits at 223,448 tons and livestock feed deficits at 4,642,219 tons.

Although rains began early this year and have fallen regularly, initially inspiring hope for a better agricultural season, relief will not come before the harvest in October. Villagers are just now entering into the critical period known as the lean season — the months when food stocks are at their lowest. It is also the moment when farm workers need more caloric energy in order to cultivate their fields, since most of the agrarian labour in Niger is performed manually.

Response

In late August 2005, the profile of the crisis was raised after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited President Tandja Mamadou in Zinder. The visit was seen as an attempt to draw attention to the crisis, and also address accusations that the UN had responded slowly. Donors have given less than half of the $81 million appealed for by the UN.

In January 16, 2006, the UN directed an appeal for US$ 240 million of food aid for West Africa to feed at least 10 million people affected by the food crisis, with Niger being the worst-affected country. [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16774239.htm]

Aftermath

In March 3, 2008 TV2 Norway aired the documentary "Sultbløffen" (lit. The Hunger Bluff) claiming there was no famine in Niger in 2005-06. BBC's Hilary Anderson, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland as well as international media and aid organizations in general were accused of severely overstating and lying about the food situation in the country.The sources, among them a Norwegian-Swedish foundation of agricultural development and their local assistants, gave a version picturing western media and relief agencies as ignorant towards local agriculture and flora. They cited so-called "food-racism": the perception that local, traditional food and food plants are useless and poisonous, despite the fact that the locals have eaten these for millenias. Second, the perception that the people of Niger are uncapable of living without support from the west, and that large food packages made it hard for local agriculture to compete. [http://www.dagsavisen.no/utenriks/article338072.ece]

See also

*2006 Horn of Africa food crisis
*Malawian food crisis

External links

* Jeevan Vasagar, "The Guardian", August 1, 2005, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/famine/story/0,12128,1540214,00.html "Plenty of food - yet the poor are starving: The two faces of Niger"]
* [http://www.fews.net/special/index.aspx?f=al&pageID=specialDoc&g=1000741 NIGER: AN EVIDENCE BASE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CURRENT CRISIS] , (PDF) Famine Early Warning Systems Network, 29 July 2005
* [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/doc116?OpenForm&rc=1&cc=ner&secid=4 Updated news links from ReliefWeb]
* [http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/niger/ USAID Assistance to Niger/Sahel] - Information on relief efforts and ongoing bilateral assistance from the United States Agency for International Development
* [http://esthergarvi.com/2008/03/03/the-media-has-awakened/ Egeland accused of bluffing about starvation]
* [http://www.unicef.org/media/media_27620.html http://www.unicef.org/media/media_27620.html]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4175278.stm UN chief tours impoverished Niger] , BBC News, 23 August 2005
* The Economist: [http://economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4293207 Starving for the cameras] , [http://economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?Story_id=4293198 Destitution not dearth] , [http://economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?Story_id=4304377 The worst is over]
* [http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sos-children-charity/niger-charity-famine.htm SOS Children Appeal]
* [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/69348/ Media pressured over food crisis] - IFEX
*Anuradha Mittal and Frederic Mousseau, " [http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/pdfs/sahel.pdf Sahel: A Prisoner of Starvation? A Case Study of the 2005 Food Crisis in Niger] " [PDF file] , "The Oakland Institute", October 31, 2006.