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Niger food crisis scheme offers local approach to recurring cycle of hunger Niger food crisis scheme offers local approach to recurring cycle of hunger
(about 4 hours later)
Last month, Valerie Amos, the UN's humanitarian chief, called for an extra $2bn (£1.25bn) from donors to combat another looming food crisis in the Sahel. The story is familiar: a poor rainy season and harvest in 2013 and a population struggling to recover from the last crisis, in 2012. Niger is again at the epicentre, with a 343,000 ton food deficit; at least 1.2 million people are at risk of hunger in the months ahead. The UN's humanitarian chief, Lady Amos, has called for an extra $2bn (£1.25bn) from donors to combat another looming food crisis in the Sahel. The story is familiar: a poor rainy season and harvest in 2013 and a population struggling to recover from the previous crisis, in 2012. Niger is again at the epicentre, with a 343,000-ton food deficit; at least 1.2 million people are at risk of hunger.
However, this year Niger is hoping to stop the hunger from becoming a national calamity. Measures are being put in place to head off the worst of the "lean season", the period from June to September when farmers exhaust their stocks while waiting for the new rainy season, when they can begin planting. However, Niger hopes to stop the hunger from becoming a national calamity. Measures are being put in place to prevent the worst of the "lean season", the period from June to September when farmers exhaust their stocks while waiting for the rainy season, when they can begin planting.
A new initiative, "communes de convergence" (coming together in local municipalities), aims to put communities at the heart of the response to shortages, and to co-ordinate the efforts of relief and development agencies with those of the government. A new initiative, communes de convergence (coming together in local municipalities), aims to put communities at the heart of the response to shortages, and to co-ordinate the efforts of relief and development agencies with those of the government.
"We can't just keep going on having crises every few years," says Amadou Diallo, Niger's high commissioner for the 3N initiative (Nigeriens Feed Nigeriens). "We need to move on from waiting till the situation gets really bad and then asking for food handouts". "We can't just keep going on having crises every few years," Niger's high commissioner for the 3N initiative (Nigeriens Feed Nigeriens), Amadou Diallo, said. "We need to move on from waiting till the situation gets really bad and then asking for food handouts."
In Koroma village in the Dogo region, south-east of Zinder, the focus of the communes de convergence programme is clearing dead vegetation from the bottom of a local lake to help prevent future flooding of prime arable land. Once removed, the vegetation is burned and composted to make fertiliser and animal feed. In Koroma village in the Dogo region, south-east of Zinder, the focus of the communes de convergence programme is clearing dead vegetation from the bottom of a lake to prevent flooding of prime arable land. Once removed, the vegetation is burned and composted to make fertiliser and animal feed.
The programme seems to have been welcomed by the local community, not least because it is providing employment for young men. About 100 turned up to work when I visited. Traditionally, these young men would be leaving around this time of year to look for work in neighbouring Nigeria, but the World Food Programme is paying 25,000 CFA a month ($52) as part of a cash-for-work scheme to clear the lake. The local NGOs implementing the project say the aim is to reclaim about 65 hectares of arable land over the next five months. The programme seems to have been welcomed by the local community, not least because it is providing employment for young men. About 100 turned up to work when I visited. Traditionally, these men would be leaving around this time of year to look for jobs in neighbouring Nigeria, but the World Food Programme is paying 25,000 CFA a month ($52) as part of a cash-for-work scheme to clear the lake. The local NGOs implementing the project say the aim is to reclaim about 65 hectares (161 acres) of arable land over the next five months.
"I have to go into the water with a knife and pair of gloves to cut the roots of the plants. I get really wet and muddy but I don't mind because this is good work," says Abdusalam Sani, wiping the mud away from his face and shaking himself dry. "I know that the water destroys the areas we can cultivate, and I can even catch some fish while I'm doing it". "I have to go into the water with a knife and pair of gloves to cut the roots of the plants. I get really wet and muddy but I don't mind because this is good work," said Abdusalam Sani, wiping the mud from his face and shaking himself dry. "I know the water destroys the areas we can cultivate, and I can even catch some fish while I'm doing it."
Diallo says that time and again consultations with communities have identified frustrations that the majority of the country's farming is still entirely reliant on the rains. Even in a good year it only rains for about three months, meaning that, after the harvest in October and November, much of the land lies unused until the next planting season. "We have been overrun with requests for irrigation systems including digging wells and installing motorised pumps," he says. Diallo says consultations with communities continue to identify frustrations that the majority of the country's farming is reliant on the rains. Even in a good year it rains for about only three months, which means that after the harvest in October and November, much of the land lies unused until the next planting season. "We have been overrun with requests for irrigation systems including digging wells and installing motorised pumps," he added.
Although the idea of co-ordinating the activities of UN agencies and NGOs may seem simple, what's being rolled out in 35 Nigerien municipalities, including the eastern Zinder region, is essentially a pilot for international agencies. It is hoped that, if the idea takes off, it can be expanded to cover all of Niger's 266 municipalities. Although the idea of co-ordinating the activities of UN agencies and NGOs may seem simple, what is being rolled out in 35 Nigerien municipalities, including the eastern Zinder region, is essentially a pilot for international agencies. It is hoped that, if the idea takes off, it can be expanded over the country's 266 municipalities.
The concept challenges the assumption, evident in the approach to previous hunger crises in the Sahel, that an initial emergency response – handing out food and providing nutritional support to mothers and children – should be followed by a suitable "recovery" period, after which emergency should give way to development with the promotion of better agricultural practices, livelihoods and education. The 3N initiative and the communes de convergence idea are responses to the need for a more holistic approach, recognising the very real possibility that unpredictable rainy seasons and harvests may well become the norm in years to come. The concept challenges the assumption, evident in the approach to previous hunger crises in the Sahel, that an initial emergency response – handing out food and providing nutritional support to mothers and children – should be followed by a suitable "recovery" period, after which emergency should give way to development with the promotion of better agricultural practices, livelihoods and education.
"Our research shows that it can take up to three years for people to fully recover from a crisis," says Benoit Thiry, WFP country director, who acknowledges that three droughts across the Sahel in less than eight years have severely tested people's coping mechanisms. "We have to act now to make sure that gains we've made in recent years are not lost, so that people have alternatives to just borrowing money again to get themselves through the next crisis". The 3N initiative and the communes de convergence idea are responses to the need for a more holistic approach, recognising that unpredictable rainy seasons and harvests could become the norm.
"Our research shows that it can take up to three years for people to fully recover from a crisis," said Benoit Thiry, WFP country director. Three droughts across the Sahel in fewer than eight years had severely tested people's coping mechanisms, he added. "We have to act now to make sure that gains we've made in recent years are not lost, so that people have alternatives to just borrowing money again to get themselves through the next crisis."