UNITED NATIONS HUMANITARIAN CHIEF ARRIVES IN NIGER TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF THE FOOD CRISIS

(Niamey/New York, 26 April 2010): United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes arrived in Niger yesterday to gain a first hand impression of the impact of the food crisis, coordinate with the new government on the response, and rally support for the Emergency Humanitarian Action Plan for Niger, launched on 7 April.

After a two-day visit to Senegal centred on the regional food and nutrition crisis affecting some 10 million people in the Sahel, Mr. Holmes today began the second leg of his West Africa mission in Niger. An estimated 7.8 million Nigeriens - 58% of the population - are food insecure, according to the Government's national rapid survey conducted in December 2009.

Poor rainfall since 2009 has devastated Niger's agricultural and pastoral production, resulting in serious food and fodder shortages. These in turn have triggered a spike in grain prices and a downturn in livestock prices. The impact of the crisis is already evident. Mass migration and school dropouts are already occurring, with people moving from rural to urban areas as well as to neighboring countries.

Today in Niamey, Mr. Holmes met with the President of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD), Mr. Salou Djibo, and the Prime Minister of the transitional government, Mr. Mahamadou Danda. He welcomed the new government's commitment to addressing the food crisis as one of their top priorities, as shown by their call for international assistance on 10 March, and reassured them of the humanitarian community's full support.

Humanitarian agencies in Niger need more funding urgently to procure food and other life-saving supplies to respond to the country's growing food crisis. Acute malnutrition is increasing and more than 1.5 million children risk becoming malnourished in the next twelve months if urgent action is not taken. Resources are needed to buy life-saving therapeutic food for children, to cover the cost of treatment and to support the national health system. A total of $133 million out of the $190 million requested in the Emergency Humanitarian Action Plan overall is still needed to help scale up food security and nutritional activities.

"In the short term, there is an urgent need to scale up food aid, fodder for the animals of pastoralists and nutritional support for the most vulnerable parts of the population, particularly the children", Mr Holmes said. "For the longer term, as Niger is a country on the front line of climate change, humanitarian and development actors need to work together, with the government, to strengthen preparedness and address the underlying structural causes of these recurrent crises".

Mr. Holmes also met UN agencies and partners from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the relief effort, and with representatives of donors and other member states. He insisted on the need to support regional organizations fighting against the root causes of food insecurity in the Sahel, and urged donors and member states to show flexibility over funding to development aid projects, which also have an impact on the humanitarian situation and the difficult economic situation of the country.

In the next two days, Mr. Holmes will travel to Zinder, one of the country's most affected regions, to meet local communities. During his visit, two major relief operations will be launched: a Blanket Feeding operation to prevent malnutrition among children aged six to 23 months (a joint effort of the World Food Programme and the United Nations Children's Fund), and an animal feeding operation of the Food and Agriculture Organization targeting threatened livestock.

For further information, please call: OCHA Niamey: Aurélie Lachant +227 20 72 61 04, mobile: +227 96 00 94 96, lachant@un.org OCHA-New York: Stephanie Bunker, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 347 244 2106, bunker@un.org; Nicholas Reader, +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org, OCHA-Geneva: Elisabeth Byrs, +41 22 917 2653, mobile +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or http://www.reliefweb.int

The mission of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors