 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Niger Prepares Emergency Food Aid For One Million
Niamey (AFP) March 21, 2007 A million people are at risk of starvation in Niger this year and 400,000 urgently need help, the government's food crisis unit (CCA) told AFP on Wednesday. The head of the unit's emergency provisions department, Boubacar Allakasso, said the government was preparing to send aid to the rural areas affected. In return, beneficiaries will have to join work schemes helping to repair degraded land, dredge ponds or rebuild roads. Last year Niger recorded a surplus of 457,237 tonnes of cereal, thanks to unusually good rains and a reprieve from the parasites that often destroy harvests. But the ministry of rural development said almost two million people would still go hungry in 2007 because shortages remained in certain areas. The Niger authorities were forced to draw heavily on the country's emergency grain stocks in 2005, after poor harvests damaged by five years of drought and attacked by plagues of locusts left about 3.2 million people without food. In February, the European Union donated six million euros (eight million dollars) to help replenish grain stocks in the impoverished country.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Out Of Africa Africa News - Resources, Health, Food
New Telemedicine Initiative For Sub-Saharan Africa
Parism, France (ESA) Mar 20, 2007Satellite solutions delivering information and communication technologies can help improve health in sub-Saharan Africa; this was the main conclusion of a dedicated telemedicine task force which met recently in Botswana. To make these solutions a reality, some short-term, concrete actions have been suggested in a pilot projects proposal. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
