Sannu!  Fofo! Owyeem! Wushiwushi!

July 2005

Niger Confronted by Famine:
A Call for Help

In Niger four million people (one third of the population) face a catastrophic famine. An early end of the rains and then the locust invasion have led to this serious food crisis. Officials in Niger say that millions in Niger are relying on food aid to survive because the country suffered a shortfall of 223,000 tons of millet, maize and sorghum in the 2004-2005 harvest.

The next two months are important so that subsistence farmers and their families in the southern area of Niger can make it through to October when hopefully harvesting starts again.

The U.N. Food Program has requested $11 million to finance emergency operations in Niger and Mali. Check out www.IRINnews.org, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The people of this country that we love so much need our help. Because of the urgency of the situation, sending donations for this project through Friends of Niger (FON) would not be timely. FON is aware of three organizations already in place in Niger: World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, and Médecins Sans Frontières. Donations can be made online. World Vision and Médecins Sans Frontières have articles on their websites about the famine in Niger.

As an organization FON is preparing a letter to the administrator of AID to encourage the agency to increase aid to the food security and nutrition programs already in place in Niger and to step up humanitarian assistance during the current crisis. We will send copies to Condoleeza Rice and the Niger desk officer at the State Department and to the White House. To aid Niger in this food shortage it is important also that you contact your own Senators and Representatives to encourage their support on this issue. Other very important persons to contact are the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and its Subcommittee on African Affairs.

- by Gabriella Maertens, 12 July 2005

View FON's Letter to USAID of 20 July 2005

http://www.friendsofniger.org