Niger Food Crisis - My Child Is HUNGRY (2012)

The unmerciful Nigerien food crisis could turn into a severe humanitarian emergency. Those in need are over 6 million. Considering all of the Sahel area, this number dramatically rises up to 13 million, half of them children. The present drought affecting the area results in a quite expected food shortage, in the rising of the prices of primary food necessities and in a relentless impoverishment of the already poor families from the villages along the Niger river. As a result of the drought, over 80% of the harvest -the only mean to survive for these families – went lost and several people had to sell their lands and animals to get enough money to pay for food. Malnutrition is a major cause of death for children in the Sahel region where the infant mortality rate is 35%: indeed over 200.000 children die every year as a result of malnutrition, of the lack of medical care and potable water and as a consequence of the degrading sanitary conditions.