The EMOP is being extended until 30 June 2011 and a new PRRO is envisaged as of July 2011. Accordingly, the budget revision adjusts the PRRO end date from 31 December to 31 July 2010 and decreases the 2010 planned food needs and beneficiary caseload. 

Two years after the 2005 food crisis, some improvements in the food security and malnutrition situation have been attained; however the population of Niger remains one of the poorest and most food insecure in the world.

The 2005 food crisis was caused by a particularly bad lean season, compounded by disruptions to regional markets and poor food habits. Food security crises could be repeated in the future as the root causes of food insecurity have not changed. The latest joint food security and vulnerability survey of November 2006 indicated that 30 percent of Nigerien households remain food insecure, of which 9.3 percent are considered severely food insecure.

WFP’s strategy for the PRRO is based on food security and nutrition assessments and the mid-term review of the current PRRO 10509.0. The strategy is in line with the Government’s priorities as laid out in the national Poverty Alleviation Strategy, the Rural Development Strategy and the Health Development Strategy.

The PRRO has been designed to complement the resources and capacity of the government’s national food security mechanism. In this context, the PRRO has the following objectives:

• contribute to the stabilization and improvement of the nutritional status of children less than five years of age and mothers;
• protect livelihoods and reinforce the capacity of vulnerable populations to withstand shocks;
• reinforce national capacity to establish and manage food security and nutrition programmes.

The outlined activities and objectives of the proposed PRRO are in line with WFP’s Strategic Objectives: 2, Protect livelihoods in crisis situations and enhance resilience to shocks: 3, Support the improved nutrition and health status of children, mothers and other vulnerable people: 5, Strengthen the capacity of countries to establish and manage food assistance programmes.

The PRRO will also contribute to Millennium Development Goals 1, Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty, 4 Reduce child mortality, 5 Improve maternal health, 6 Combat HIV/SIDS, malaria and other diseases, and 7, Ensure environmental stability.

Countries

Niger

Niger has a population of approximately 13 million inhabitants and was ranked 174 out of 177 countries by UNDP’s Human Development Index in 2008. Some 59.5 percent of the population is living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the engine of Niger’s weak economy, with 82 percent of the population relying on farming....