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An international conference on food and nutritional security in Niger took place in Niamey at the end of March 2011. CECI’s Nigerien team was present as a member of the International Agriculture Alliance (IAA), that was also sponsoring the conference through the Women and Food Security project (FSA), a project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The event was organized by the Haute Autorité à la Sécurité Alimentaire (HASA) of Niger, with the aim of exchanging experiences and lessons learned, and exploring new directions toward multisectoral management and policy. Food and nutritional security has clearly been prioritized in the policy agenda of the new government just elected on March 12.

Opening the meeting, Nigerien Prime Minister Mahamadou Danda called on experts from around the country to focus on “how to ensure the food and nutritional security of a Sahelian country facing extreme climatic conditions and unpredictable rainfall.”

“We need to pinpoint and eliminate all obstacles to food production, and also to identify all the sustainable practices that can help make food and nutritional security a reality in Niger,” says Mahamadou Danda. He stressed that the objective is to significantly increase agricultural and livestock production and to adapt the food production system, both quantitatively and qualitatively, to fit the needs of the population.

The Niamey conference will be followed by a policy-makers conference, in May and June, with the aim of establishing a serious political commitment to “put an end to food and nutritional insecurity in Niger.” This commitment will take the form of a policy paper entitled “Déclaration de Niamey,” as well as a roadmap for its implementation.

The two most recent serious food crises in 2005 and 2010 have clearly demonstrated that food and nutritional insecurity poses a critical problem for Niger.

In 2005, Niger faced a food crisis that stemmed from locust invasion, cereal-grain shortages, and a lack of market access among those most in need. In total, 3.5 million people experienced food insecurity (29% of the country’s total population).
In 2010, following a cereal-grain shortage caused by erratic rainfall during the 2009 rainy season, another food crisis affected 7.1 million people (48% of the population).

Ceci then raised 360,000 $ to support the most affected populations.

CECI in Niger

Since 2006, CECI has led a food security project in the Tahoua region of Niger. The impressive results of this project have convinced its principal funder, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), to agree to support the implementation of a second phase (2009-2013): the Women and Food Security Project (FSA). The purpose of the project is to improve food and community security in the villages of five communes in the Tahoua region. This initiative is led by the International Agricultural Alliance, of which CECI is a member. It is aimed primarily at women, who are typically among the most vulnerable in times of food shortage.

The work is being carried out in collaboration with the state’s decentralized technical service providers; with regional, prefectural, communal, and traditional authorities; and with the Nigerien beneficiaries.

Visit the Symposium de Niamey website

Photo credit : IRIN