World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Food insecurity is affecting some eight million people in Niger, a United Nations (UN) spokesman said, reports China's Xinhua news agency. (..) The World Food Programme also said that some 29,000 cases of malnutrition have already been reported to local authorities since the start of the year, Nesirky said.

Irregular and below-average rains in parts of northeastern Nigeria and eastern Niger have shortened the growing season for many farmers, sparking malnutrition and food insecurity concerns among aid groups and analysts. (..) “Rainfall needs to be both sufficient and well-timed in the Sahel to enable some crops the four months they require to mature,” World Food Programme’s West Africa assessment officer, Jean-Martin Bauer, told IRIN.

A food distribution to help prevent malnutrition – known as a blanket feeding – has been launched in southern Niger's Zinder region, with UN World Food Program (WFP) and local NGO support. (..) WFP used Japanese government and UN Common Response Emergency Fund (CERF) funding to help finance the operation, said WFP's head of office in Zinder, Djimadoumngar Doumbaye.

A United Nations survey shows a marked deterioration in the nutritional status of children in Niger. The World Food Program and UN Children's Fund, which carried out the annual nutritional assessment, are urgently appealing to the international community for help in combating rising malnutrition rates among Niger's children. The UN agencies find the situation of children in Niger is far worse now than it was 12 months ago when their last nutritional assessment was issued.