2005–06 Niger food crisis

The hunger crisis in Niger in 2005 was the result of a food shortage, which was based on natural causes, but was largely reinforced by political and economic intervention of man. The hunger crisis affected estimated 2.4 to 3.6 million individuals in the regions of Zinder, Maradi, Diffa and Tahoua. It is estimated that died between 13000-48000 people as a direct result of malnutrition. These food shortages affected all countries in West Africa, which lie in the region of the Sahel, but only in Niger occurred an acute famine. These food shortages in Niger showed for the first time on the limits of the humanitarian commitment of the world community. The lack of media attention, the famine became known only in August 2005 worldwide, the climax. This even though the government of Niger and the World Food Programme of the United Nations repeatedly pointed to this impending food shortage since the end of 2004 or the spring of 2005 and warned of an impending famine.

The Niger is located in West Africa, its landscape is mostly of deserts in the north, the savanna landscape of the Sahel, in the south, and determines the Sudan in the south west. Affected by the famine areas extend to the west of the Chad Basin at the southern border of Niger to Nigeria, in the Sahelian Acacia savanna. The regions affected are in the water catchment area of ​​Komadugu Yobe, fall into this basin between 200 to 600 mm of rain per year, which are fed from the West African monsoon, these deposits provide a dry field cultivation by mainly millet is grown.

Historical Aspects

The variability of the West African monsoon in the past led to major long-lasting droughts, but also limited occurring large migratory locust swarms and the political instability in the region in the past led to famine. Historical evidence can be major famines in the region since the 16th century. Since the end of the great famine in the Sahel, during the 1960/1980er years, an early warning of U.S. AID has been established, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network is called. The region of the Sahel is due to the low development index, the variability of seasonal rains particularly susceptible to malnutrition of the people in periods of drought, especially children are affected

The end of the famine

Already in 2003 /04 were for signs of an impending food shortage, these were registered by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network and experts forecast a crop shortfall of about 8-12 %. Reasons of failure were large swarms of locusts and expected lower rainfall. From the experts of this crop failure was regarded as dangerous, since a crop failure of 22 % was observed in 2001 and no famine broke out. At the same time took the international authorities on the free markets would eliminate a regional food shortages in West Africa. However, on regional Ernteeinbusen, especially in the northeast of Nigeria, were known in the year 2004/2005 included several West African countries, such as Mali and Senegal, its limits for grain exports, this fact was not considered by the early warning system and led only to the famine in Niger. The Nigerian traders paid higher prices for cereals as the Niger trade, whereby Niger in this situation even ascended to the grain exporter. This situation culminated in the spring and summer of a food shortage into a famine in southern Niger, which surprised all experts. To complicate matters further the the Niger State contracting the famine until the spring of 2005 ignored and early summer could not achieve the necessary grain imports, as regional markets were deserted and the price of grain had risen by up to 89%, grains became the object of speculation. Appeals of the Niger and the United Nations World Food Programme to aid deliveries in early summer went unheard by the donor countries. The World Bank, the U.S. and the EU Commission made ​​future loans for the Niger dependent, which had preserved the functioning of free markets and as a free food distribution was virtually eliminated.

Trivia

The photographer Finbarr O'Reilly received the award Press Photo of the Year 2005 for receiving a nut on the food waits with her child in front of a relief center.