CERF allocates $15 million for 1.7 million food-insecure people in Niger.
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| A mother feeding her child in Niger [Photo: WFP] |
12 August 2010: In response to severe food insecurity across the country, CERF allocates $15 million for 1.7 million vulnerable people in Niger.
The World Food Programme (WFP) will receive $15 million to improve nutritional status and reinforce livelihoods for close to 1.7 million people and also to augment logistic support.
Niger is in the midst of a food and nutrition crisis resulting from the failed harvest in 2009 due to the lack of rainfall. A recent vulnerability assessment, conducted in April 2010, indicates that over 7 million people, 46% of the population, are in a situation of moderate to severe food insecurity, reaching alarming proportions in some departments. This survey reveals a significant increase in the number of severely food-insecure people from 2.6 million, according to a rapid survey conducted in December 2009, to 3.3 million people in April 2010. It also reveals a high level of vulnerability in urban areas, particularly amongst new migrants, as well as a higher rate of severe food insecurity amongst women.
The results of the 2010 Nutrition Survey, published on 24 June, testify to the magnitude of the nutritional crisis among children. The Nutrition Survey reveals a global acute malnutrition (GAM) prevalence exceeding the 15% emergency threshold, with 16.7% of children aged 6 to 59 months affected. Malnutrition has significantly increased since the last survey conducted in 2009, when it was recorded at 12.3%. Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) has also risen from 2.1% in 2009 to 3.2% in 2010.
CERF allocated $14 million from the Rapid Response window in May and $6 million through the Underfunded window in January for food-insecurity in Niger.
[Last updated: 13 August 2010]
CERF allocated $14 million to humanitarian agencies to fight food insecurity in Niger.
18 May 2010: More than $5 million will go to the World Food Programme (WFP) to improve the nutritional status and reinforce livelihoods of 250,000 vulnerable populations, and to augment support logistics. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will receive $4.3 million for emergency nutrition service for 60,000 children and WASH assistance for 42,000 people. Another $4.2 million has been allocated to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for emergency assistance to rehabilitate sustainable livelihoods of 640,000 vulnerable pastoralist people. Finally, the World Health Organization (WHO) will receive $530,000 for emergency nutrition intervention for 20,000 children.
Food production deficits occur cyclically in Niger. Natural disasters are common and are a contributing factor to the vulnerability and food insecurity of households. Many Nigerian families are living on the brink of severe food insecurity and a relatively minor shock can result in widespread food shortages. In 2010, the Ministry of Agricultures final crop assessment results indicate a cereal deficit of more than 400,000 tons.
A June 2009 UNICEF/WFP/Government Nutrition Survey found that global acute malnutrition (GAM) had reached 12.3 percent nationally. Less than half of the population (41 percent) have access to essential health services, one in five children dies before reaching 5 years of age, 40 percent of children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition even in “normal” years. In Diffa and Zinder, malnutrition rates are in excess of WHO established emergency thresholds with respective GAM at 17.4 percent and 15.4 percent. It is likely that acute malnutrition will further deteriorate in other parts of the country.
[Last updated: 18 June 2010]