Niger’s government on Friday squashed any notion that food would be distributed free of charge to the country’s citizens teetering on the edge of a food crisis that could affect about three million people.
The reaction followed Thursday’s rally by several thousand people demanding free food stocks and blasting the government for turning a blind eye to their plight.
”What civil society is asking is poorly conceived and irrational. The state of Niger cannot engage in such a foolish adventure,” government spokesperson Mohamed Ben Omar said.
”How can we distribute the little that we have, and for free?”
Hoping to stem the effects of the food crisis that has already put about 800 000 people at risk of serious malnutrition, the government has engaged in a ”promotional” sale of cereals in the most at-risk areas.
But drought and last year’s invasion by desert locusts have slashed the vast north-west African state’s production by more than 200 000 tonnes, leaving a deficit that the United Nations World Food Programme estimates will require about $16-million in emergency food aid.
There have been no international responses to the appeal launched nearly two weeks ago by the UN to ease the hunger pangs in Niger, a vast arid country of about 12-million people that already ranks among the world’s poorest.
The appeal was followed up last weekend by an anguished plea from Prime Minister Hama Amadou for emergency assistance, which marked a sea change in the attitude of the government to the looming food crisis.
”The cereals we are selling at reasonable prices are being pulled from the national reserves, which we have built up carefully with the help of our development partners,” said Ben Omar.
”We cannot take from it without knowing we have something to replace it with, and as yet we are still depending on the whims of our partners.”
He added: ”If people want free food, maybe everyone, from civil servants to merchants, should do their part in providing it.” — Sapa-AFP