Sixteen tonnes of United Nations food aid were airlifted into Niger on Friday, where an estimated 150 000 children are threatened with starvation.
Another 68 tonnes of food are expected to be delivered over the weekend. They are the first deliveries of the 23 000 tonnes of food needed to feed the 2,5-million people who are going hungry, according to United Nations officials.
The plane delivered cooking oil, sugar and a fortified peanut butter paste designed for young children. The provisions were sent by French aid agency Reunir.
Another airlift is expected over the weekend, containing 40 tonnes of millet and 28 tonnes of oil. News reports of the desperate conditions in Niger have prompted the international community to pledge more food and funds in the past 10 days. The UN and international aid organisations are scrambling to provide emergency food.
Niger’s famine follows bad rains and an infestation of locusts that ate up entire fields of the staple grain, millet. Original reports of the disaster went largely unheeded, said agencies.
Thousands of severely malnourished children are dying every day and many are too weak to make it to the feeding centres that have been set up. – Guardian Unlimited Â