Government authorities estimate that nearly a million children in Niger are moderately malnourished and another 200,000 have severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition. Over 58% of Niger’s population is deemed food insecure, according to recent surveys. Assessments conducted in December showed that some 7.8 million people will be forced to cope without food reserves for at least six months before the October harvest; food stocks for severely insecure households — approximately 20% of the population — have already been depleted. These severe food shortages result from a number of factors, including drought-like conditions, high staple food prices and a sharp drop in the market price of cattle.

“The food situation in Niger has reached a critical stage,” says Lauren Taylor, Niger Desk Officer for Action Against Hunger, which has implemented humanitarian programmes in Niger since 1997. “Families with no other options are going days without eating or are resorting to begging and borrowing to cope with massive shortfalls.”

Action Against Hunger is providing logistical and technical support for the Nigerien government’s response, which includes cash-for-work programmes to create 800 new village grain banks and reinforce another 1,000 existing banks, food and seed distributions to vulnerable households during the planting season, bolstering national grain reserves and nutritional care for children under five. The national plan covers approximately 30% of the food insecure population for three months.

With support from the UK Department for International Development, Action Against Hunger is also launching an emergency intervention in the Mayahi region of southern Niger to provide nutritional support to roughly 18,000 acutely malnourished children under five and cash-based grants to 1,900 vulnerable people to boost purchasing power at local food markets.

Despite these programs, the population’s needs far outstrip available resources. Action Against Hunger is calling on donors to curb the impact of the crisis through immediate funding for nutrition, food security, and livelihoods.