New York, Apr 26 2010 11:10AM
As the food crisis in Niger worsens, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today it will more than double the number of hungry people it feeds despite its own funding gap.
"Niger has been hit extremely hard by the drought and the world has to act to prevent massive human suffering and the loss of a generation," said Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of WFP, noting that the agency will reach 2.3 million people in the arid eastern Sahel region.
General food distributions, particularly to pregnant women and nursing mothers, as well as blanket feeding for children under two years of age and supplementary feeding for children under five in the worst-affected areas, are the main priorities.
WFP is also supporting so-called cereal banks, community cereal stores where women buy grain at subsidized prices at the height of the "lean season" when the previous harvest has run out. Communities re-stock the banks during the next harvest when prices are lowest.
The stepped-up response comes as WFP is facing a nearly $100 million shortfall in its funding for Niger.
It appealed for $182 million to scale up its operations in the West African country, where weak and erratic rainfall destroyed harvests last year and parched land used for grazing.
In January, results of a national survey found that more than half Niger's population of 13.5 million is food insecure.
"We need to move quickly to provide a buffer for the people and government of Niger against the shock of a serious food crisis," said Thomas Yanga, WFP Regional Director for West Africa.
In a related development, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, began yesterday a visit to West Africa, which will take him to Niger, to assess the human impact of the food crisis.
He visited the drought-hit Sahel region, calling the mounting food crisis "very worrying."
Apr 26 2010 11:10AM
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