Why this Project is Important

Potential Long Term Impact

This operation will combat child malnutrition, assist the poor to rebuild their livelihoods, and strengthen peoples’ and the government’s ability to respond to hunger crises.

Project Message

Niger’s biggest problem is one of poverty – when survival strategies are exhausted ... disaster looms.
- Gian Carlo Cirri, Former WFP/Niger Country Director

Who is Running This Project

Contact

Meredith Slater,
Development Associate, Friends of the WFP
1819 L Street, NW Suite 900
Washington, DC 20036
United States
202-530-1694
Email:

Project Sponsor

GlobalGiving

Organization

Friends of the World Food Program 1819 L St. NW Suite 900 Washington, DC 20036 United States 202.530.1694 http://www.friendsofwfp.org

Learn more about Friends of the World Food Program and the project team.

Friends of the World Food Program's Current Projects on GlobalGiving

Help Feed Thousands of Refugees in Ethiopia	Life-Saving Food Assistance to Haiti in Crisis	Myanmar: Stop Second Wave of Deaths by Hunger	End Infant and Child Malnutrition in Guatemala
Building a Women's Center in Nebkit, Mali	Help millions of North Koreans facing food crisis

Where this Project is Located

Country

This project is located in Niger and can also be found under Children.

For more information about Niger, read the Human Development Report on Niger or the Wikipedia entry for Niger.

When this Project was Updated

Last Updated

This project was last updated on August 14, 2008.

Date Added to GlobalGiving

This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on August 03, 2005.

Latest Update from the Field

Your gift helped during lean season

By Karen Sendelback - President & CEO, August 14, 2008 01:01 PM

Fatouma is a widow and mother of two who receives assistance from World Food Program (WFP) cereal (grain) banks. “When my family’s cereal stocks ran out, I was able to purchase cereals from the bank at moderate prices,” says Fatouma. Towards the end of the lean season when all of her financial resources were exhausted, she was then also able to purchase cereal on credit which she hopes to pay back with her next harvest. “I am glad the cereal bank was there for me and my family when we needed it the most.”

Over 70 percent of Niger’s 13 million inhabitants live below the poverty line and are suffering greatly under the impact of the current global food crisis, just as Fatouma has. The country’s weak economy is almost entirely fueled by agriculture, which is constantly hindered by drought and locust invasion. Nearly 44 percent of children experience chronic malnutrition and one in five children in Niger does not live to see their fifth birthday.

World Food Program assistance in Niger is designed to address the root causes of poverty by promoting rural development and increasing education rates, while also responding to immediate relief needs, such as the treatment of children suffering from malnutrition. WFP supports several programs in Niger including food-for-training and food-for-work (FFW) projects to increase independent food production.

But, recently, WFP has given special attention to the impact of the global food crisis in Niger. The price of rice in Niger has risen 51 percent compared to the price average over the past five years. The increase in cost of other similar items is of particular concern to the people of Niger as grain serves as a staple of the local diet. WFP is working to combat this growing issue by setting up village-level cereal banks to ensure the availability of grain at reasonable prices. This program allows families to afford the food they need when they need it and has significantly softened the blow of the global food crisis on Nigeriens.

WFP Niger is assisting about 1.3 million people this year and plans to maintain this level of service, if not increase it, but has further financial needs to continue improving the quality of nutrition for Niger’s vulnerable populations throughout 2008. Your contribution has had an important impact on allowing Friends of the World Food Program assist WFP in initiating vital projects like village-level cereal banks, which have saved countless lives. Thank you for your continued support.

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