Niger

"Sudden temperature change, the physiological demands on the digestive system of changing from a fodder to a grass diet, and water-borne diseases are always taxing for the cattle. 'Since the animals are already extremely weak, many are expected to die with the first rains,' said NGO Action Against Hunger’s (ACF) West Africa regional representative Patricia Hoorelbeke.

"Sixty kilometres (40 miles) from Mao, at Nokou, people make do with whatever dates they can find near dry river beds to survive, said a member of the Action contre la faim (Action against Hunger) NGO."

"According to humanitarian agency Action Against Hunger, the government estimated that nearly one million children are moderately malnourished and another 200,000 have severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition. Even if those children survive, their physical and mental development will likely be as stunted as the nation’s. The government assessment showed that, at the beginning of the year, household foodstocks had already been depleted for about 20% of the population.

"'The food situation in Niger has reached a critical stage,' said Lauren Taylor, Niger desk officer for Action Against Hunger in a press release. '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 (ACF) is providing logistical and technical support for the Niger authorities' response, which includes cash-for-work programmes to create 800 new village grain banks and reinforce another 1,000 existing banks. ACF is also providing nutritional support to 18,000 acutely malnourished under-five-year-olds in southern Niger and cash-based grants to 1,900 vulnerable people to boost purchasing power at local food markets.

"We continue to function normally," Michael Flachaire, head of Action Against Hunger's Spanish arm (ACF-E) in Niger, told AlertNet. "What is important to us is that all the technical and administrative authorities at local level continue to operate because they are vital to any response that international humanitarian organisations have to provide."

"'We were already asking ourselves questions about TFCs,' Caroline Wilkinson, a nutritionist with Action Against Hunger, says. 'We were asking ourselves whether mothers could and should stay for such a long time in a TFC, because it has consequences on life at home.'"