CAFOD and Niger President call for action on food crisis

CAFOD and other aid agencies met the President of Niger to discuss the food crisis that is devastating large parts of West Africa.

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Geoff O’Donoghue, the Director of our International Division, met President Issoufou Mahamadou on 13 June at a high-level government meeting. He joined other members of the Sahel Working Group – a network of British aid agencies working in West Africa – in welcoming the government of Niger’s early response to the crisis.

We also supported the President’s call for donors to raise $864 million at a pledging conference in Brussels on Monday. 5.5 million people are now at risk of severe food shortages in Niger, and, with the next harvest not due until late October, the worst is yet to come. But the international community has been too slow to respond to the crisis so far.

President Issoufou said: “Since August 2011, when crops began to fail and the rains were inadequate, we set up an emergency programme to mobilise all our efforts in alleviating the immediate situation for the people of Niger.

“However, we must also look to the long-term and we need a cohesive structural response to help tackle drought and climate change if we are to move forward.”

The President’s words echo the Sahel Working Group’s recent joint report Escaping the Hunger Cycle, which calls for long term investment to support a coordinated regional reserve system.

Geoff O’Donoghue said: “We applaud the President for focusing early on the emergency food crisis and making clear the challenges his country faces. The international community needs to act now to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. But it also needs to look at long-term investment to help Niger and its neighbours build resilience and end the devastating cycle of food crises.”

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