More than 2 and a half million people are at risk from starvation in Niger, because of food shortages caused by drought and locusts.
According to today’s Guardian:
The UN first appealed for assistance for Niger in November and got almost no response. Another appeal for $16m (£9.2m) in March got about $1m. The latest appeal on May 25 for $30m has received about $10m but "it’s still too little", the UN humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, said.
"We are having now an acute humanitarian crisis in Niger in which children are dying as we speak," he said. "We could have prevented this and the world community didn’t."
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One of the ironies of the famine in Niger is that there’s no shortage of food in town’s markets. What is in short supply is food that farmers can afford to buy. According to a US news report I saw yesterday, food prices have risen sharply in the last year – the government was forced to slap on 19 VAT on basic foodstuffs, in order to implement a structural adjustment programme from the IMF and EU before receiving any AID. See link.
Owen adds: Thanks Ian. I’ve added a new post picking up on the important point that you raise.