Niger

42 percent of children under 5 years of age suffer from chronic malnutrition and 10.3 percent are acutely malnourished. Diets lack the necessary vitamins and minerals. As a result, over 73 percent of children under 5, and almost 46 percent of women of reproductive age, are anaemic.

The rainy season is short, and the country is hit by increasingly irregular rainfall, rising temperatures, desertification and ever more frequent climate shocks. Four severe climate-related food and nutrition crises since 2000 have exacerbated Niger’s vulnerability to food insecurity.  

Epidemics and conflict in three neighbouring countries aggravate the situation. The conflict in northern Nigeria has displaced people – many of whom are chronically malnourished – into the Lake Chad Basin area. Fighting has spilled over the border, deepening local food insecurity and endangering host communities, refugees and humanitarian workers.

The economy cannot support adequate social safety nets for Niger’s large vulnerable population, and the Government’s ability to confront hunger is limited by financial, capacity and logistical constraints.

The World Food Programme has been working in Niger since 1968. Our current work aims to alleviate hunger and malnutrition not only in emergency situations but also in the long term through carrying out resilience-building activities. Our operations are aligned with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, particularly Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 17: ‘End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture’ and ‘Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development’.