|
|
DROUGHT FUELS
FOOD CRISIS IN NIGER (MaximsNewsNetwork)
|
UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews
Network
/ 28
April 2010 --The
top United Nations humanitarian official yesterday traveled to south-eastern
Niger
to assess the human impact of a grave food crisis that has affected more
than half of the West African country’s 14 million people.
John
Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency
Relief Coordinator, went to the department of Tanout in the region of Zinder,
where living conditions are characterized by extreme poverty in a fragile
economy dependent mainly on agriculture and pastoral activities, which have
been greatly affected by a prolonged drought.
Access
to food, water, education, health and all other social services remains
poor. An annual population growth rate estimated at 4.4 per cent has
exacerbated chronic vulnerability.
In a
visit to the supplementary feeding centre in Tanout’s main hospital, where
children under the age of five suffering from malnutrition receive intensive
therapeutic care, Mr. Holmes talked to medical staff about the children’s
nutritional status. He was told that acute malnutrition is on the rise, and
admissions to the hospital are expected to peak in May-June.
Earlier,
Mr. Holmes visited the village of Dalli, which has been classified among the
region’s most vulnerable with nearly total shortages of grain. He met with
the residents who told him that their survival strategies included reducing
the frequency and quality of their meals, consuming wild foods, and picking
hay and wood for sale in local markets. Food shortages have also caused a
massive population movement from rural to urban areas and into neighbouring
countries, notably Nigeria and Libya.
He
also visited the village of Danganari, where the UN Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) has launched its animal feed assistance programme to help
local herders.
In
three months, more than 700 tons of animal feed will be sold at reduced
rates by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), breeders’ associations and
Government services in Tanout. The programme aims to reduce livestock deaths
from starvation, lack of water and diseases. More than eight percent of the
country’s livestock, or one million head of cattle, are at risk of dying
this year.
Mr.
Holmes will tomorrow visit the department of Mirriah to participate in the
launch of a blanket feeding operation to prevent malnutrition among all
children aged six to 23 months – a joint effort of the UN World Food
Programme (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Twitter/MaximsNews:
Labels:
United Nations,
MaximsNews
Network, U.N., MaximsNews,
MaximsNews WATER, MaximsNewsWATER,
water, international
development, environment,
water news, water
sustainability, water
resource, water
management, global
water crisis, sustainable
development, FAO, UNICEF,
World Food
Programme, WFP, Niger,
drought, food
crisis, hunger, malnutrition,
livestock, John
Holmes, humanitarian
assistance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
MaximsNewsNetwork
NEWS NETWORK FOR THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY |
MaximsNewsNetwork
is a Global News Network
that is read worldwide, in 201 countries and territories. Established in 1999.
SEE:
About
MaximsNews®LLC
The views expressed are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of
MaximsNews Network.
REACH
THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE
SEE:
Advertise
with MaximsNews Network | MaximsNews
MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS with MaximsNews Network 
NEWS SYNDICATION
|
Labels: MaximsNews
Network,
MaximsNewsPEOPLE,
United
Nations, U.N., UN,
World Politics,
International
News, Opinion,
Diplomacy, NGO,
Think-TankNews,
People
in World News,
MaximsNews Network, MaximsNewsWorld,
MaximsNews
Network,
|
|
MaximsNews
UN
United Nations World
Politics International News
Opinion
Commentary Diplomacy
Turbo Tagger
|
|
|
Free!!
 Free!!
|
MaximsNews
Network
| CONTACT
MaximsNews LLC Network | Please
contact us about Republishing:
©Copyrights 1999 - 2010, MaximsNews LLC . All rights
reserved.
|
