As 2.5 million people in Niger struggle to survive in the face of acute food shortages leading UK charities have announced today that they are joining forces to appeal to the public for help. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Niger Crisis Appeal opens for telephone and online donations today (Saturday July 30th), with TV and radio appeals launching on Tuesday 2 August.
A potentially fatal combination of drought and a locust plague has left millions of people at risk of hunger in Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso – one of the most neglected and poorest regions in the world. Money raised by the Appeal will enable agencies to deliver aid where it is needed most in the region.
Tearfund partners have been responding to the crisis for months. They are currently hoping to meet the needs of many tens of thousands of people in the coming weeks. Tearfund partner Jemed is this weekend distributing 50 tonnes of rice to nomad families in the remote southern area of Abalak. There are also plans to supply food to more than 1000 families in the coming two months.
“The food situation in Abalak is critical,” says Jeff Woodke, Director of Tearfund partner Jemed. “What little food there is costs too much for many of the people.”
Commenting on the launch of the Appeal, DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley said:
“We need the public to donate whatever they can to help us save lives. DEC members are working together to get urgent supplies of food to those who need it most urgently in Niger and are also scaling up their efforts in the other countries of the Sahel region in West Africa, which are also badly affected. Every second counts.”
Niger has been ruined by decades of chronic poverty. Before this current crisis, 40 per cent of children were malnourished and Niger had the second highest global mortality rate amongst children under 5. Acute food shortages are making a dire situation unbearable as millions struggle to deal with the effects of the persistent lack of food, safe water and basic healthcare. Donations to the DEC Appeal will fund member agencies’ relief programmes, including the purchase and distribution of food, animal fodder, seeds and medicines.