Large-scale distribution of emergency rations to hungry families in Niger has begun for the first time since the United Nations called for aid late last year, the UN's emergency food agency said today.
The mass handouts of free food got under way yesterday in the small village of Tolkobey, 90 kilometres from the capital Niamey, in the hopes of heading off starvation, the World Food Programme (WFP) said.
Up to now, the aid agency has distributed food via school meals or food-for-work programmes.
"Now the situation is so bad that we have to resort to general food distribution," WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume told reporters.
World Food Programme spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume
Around 35 tonnes of commodities were being delivered to families in the village to cover a one-month period. A second round of aid is planned next month before the October harvest.
The UN food agency said it would target critical areas first in the coming months to avoid an increase in hunger among an estimated needy population of 2.5 million people in Niger, one of the world's poorest countries.
The food shortage in western Africa has triggered criticisms that the international community failed to react in time to warning signs that emerged a year ago.
The UN has countered by saying that it raised the alarm early enough but that donors failed to donate enough money to head off the impending crisis.
The WFP issued its first appeal for emergency aid to Niger in November last year.
"It's a question of resources . . . that came too late and now the prices are high," Ms Berthiaume said. "It's not a question of will."
Last week, the United Nations warned that mass hunger was a threat to millions of people in Niger and neighbouring countries due to locusts and drought, and the body increased its emergency funding appeal five-fold to $81 million.
The agency said today it was still $34.4 million short of its latest fundraising goal.
But Niger President Mamadou Tanja has denied there is famine in his country saying his people "look well-fed, as you can see".
He told the BBC he accepted there were food shortages in some areas but claimed the idea of a famine was being exploited for political and economic gain by opposition parties and United Nations aid agencies.