Agencies scale up African relief
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《英国医生杂志》
The United Nations, aid agencies, and governments of rich countries are scaling up relief efforts to try to bring the food crisis in Niger and neighbouring areas under control.
Khaled Adly, acting regional director of the UN's World Food Programme in west Africa, said: "The generosity of donor countries and individuals has been tremendous over the past three weeks, but we still need more contributions to ensure that the people of Niger have enough food to get them through to the harvest in about 10 weeks' time." The programme's $58m (￡32m; 47m) appeal has so far raised only $33m.
The World Food Programme and other aid agencies, such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Oxfam, are playing a leading part in the worst affected areas. Together with other international non-governmental organisations and Niger's government the programme has begun to distribute free food to 2.5 million people.
The programme's public information officer, Stephanie Savariaud, said: "The food crisis in Niger is a consequence of a combination of factors. There has always been a chronic malnutrition problem in Niger, and people live on a thin line, which makes them very vulnerable to shocks. Last year's drought and locust invasion made things worse. People have very little food or no more food in reserve. The prices in the whole subregion have skyrocketed. The problems in Niger are structural: 82% of the population depend on agriculture to survive, and only 15% of the land is suitable for cultivation."
The World Food Programme is running six inpatient nutritional rehabilitation centres in Niger and 33 outpatient programmes to treat children with severe malnutrition. About 16 000 severely malnourished children have been treated since the beginning of the year, it says. These children get specialised food and medical care and when discharged go home with enough food for the whole family.
Some aid agencies have put the blame for the extent of the crisis on the international community. Natasha Kofoworola Quist, Oxfam's regional director for west Africa, said: "If Niger had received the same level of aid as Iraq, a much richer country, this crisis may never have happened.
According to Oxfam, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso get $12, $19, $20, and $13 respectively per person per year in aid, in contrast to Iraq's $91. The UN estimates that about $45 per person per year in aid is needed in these countries for its millennium development goals to be achieved.
However, Niger's President Mamadou Tandja, in reacting to the assessment of the situation by the UN and aid agencies, told the BBC: "There is no famine in Niger. The people who are saying there is a famine either have a political interest or an economic interest.
"It has been said that $45m have been donated to Niger. But we have only received $2.5m. The rest we only hear about," he said.
He added: "We are experiencing a food crisis due to the poor harvest and locust attacks of 2004."
However, opposition politicians do not agree and say that the crisis reflects the failure of the government's fight against poverty.
Kassoum Issa, head of the Democratic Coordination of Civil Society in Niger, told Associated Press: "This famine... quite simply shows the failure of the programme of the fight against poverty conducted by the president. The people of Niger are dying."(Chibuzo Odigwe)
Khaled Adly, acting regional director of the UN's World Food Programme in west Africa, said: "The generosity of donor countries and individuals has been tremendous over the past three weeks, but we still need more contributions to ensure that the people of Niger have enough food to get them through to the harvest in about 10 weeks' time." The programme's $58m (￡32m; 47m) appeal has so far raised only $33m.
The World Food Programme and other aid agencies, such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Oxfam, are playing a leading part in the worst affected areas. Together with other international non-governmental organisations and Niger's government the programme has begun to distribute free food to 2.5 million people.
The programme's public information officer, Stephanie Savariaud, said: "The food crisis in Niger is a consequence of a combination of factors. There has always been a chronic malnutrition problem in Niger, and people live on a thin line, which makes them very vulnerable to shocks. Last year's drought and locust invasion made things worse. People have very little food or no more food in reserve. The prices in the whole subregion have skyrocketed. The problems in Niger are structural: 82% of the population depend on agriculture to survive, and only 15% of the land is suitable for cultivation."
The World Food Programme is running six inpatient nutritional rehabilitation centres in Niger and 33 outpatient programmes to treat children with severe malnutrition. About 16 000 severely malnourished children have been treated since the beginning of the year, it says. These children get specialised food and medical care and when discharged go home with enough food for the whole family.
Some aid agencies have put the blame for the extent of the crisis on the international community. Natasha Kofoworola Quist, Oxfam's regional director for west Africa, said: "If Niger had received the same level of aid as Iraq, a much richer country, this crisis may never have happened.
According to Oxfam, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso get $12, $19, $20, and $13 respectively per person per year in aid, in contrast to Iraq's $91. The UN estimates that about $45 per person per year in aid is needed in these countries for its millennium development goals to be achieved.
However, Niger's President Mamadou Tandja, in reacting to the assessment of the situation by the UN and aid agencies, told the BBC: "There is no famine in Niger. The people who are saying there is a famine either have a political interest or an economic interest.
"It has been said that $45m have been donated to Niger. But we have only received $2.5m. The rest we only hear about," he said.
He added: "We are experiencing a food crisis due to the poor harvest and locust attacks of 2004."
However, opposition politicians do not agree and say that the crisis reflects the failure of the government's fight against poverty.
Kassoum Issa, head of the Democratic Coordination of Civil Society in Niger, told Associated Press: "This famine... quite simply shows the failure of the programme of the fight against poverty conducted by the president. The people of Niger are dying."(Chibuzo Odigwe)