Niger feeding centres overstretched as food crisis worsens

Feeding centres in Niger are filled to capacity in the face of widespread food shortages across the country.

Christian Aid’s emergency officer, Niall O’Rourke, is in Niger visiting therapeutic feeding centres in and around Guidan Ider in the south that are receiving funding from the organisation.

He said they were “full to capacity” and that Christian Aid’s partners did not have enough food to feed all of the children who come to the centres.

“This is difficult work by its nature, but staff at the centres told me they regularly have to turn away moderately malnourished children due to a lack of resources.”

The food crisis has been brought on by several seasons of drought and failed harvests, followed by heavy rains.

According to Christian Aid, around half of the population is suffering from malnutrition. The UN ranks Niger as the poorest country in the world, with around 18 per cent of all children dying before their fifth birthday.

Mr O’Rourke said the women coming to the feeding centre every day had walked up to five kilometres with their children in their arms.

“Many of the mothers are still teenagers with two or three children under five,” he said.

“The stories they tell are heartbreaking, in many cases their husbands or partners have left in search of work abroad, the smallholdings of land they own are under water, their grain stores have been destroyed, there are too many mouths to feed and not enough food.”