Niger Food Security Update: February 25, 2001 Summary The food security situation in the arrondissement of Ouallam is troubling, especially in the cantons of Ouallam and Tondikiwindi. According to personnel of Afrique Verte (an international NGO working in the Department of Tillabéry), GTZ/ Projet Agro-Sylvo Pastorale (PASP) II (an integrated rural development project), and the Government of Niger agriculture service, the 2000 harvest was extremely poor. Farm household cereal stocks are depleted. The pasture situation is also very poor. There have been reports of unusually large migrations of able- bodied men as well as some entire families out of Ouallam in search of work and food. Due to limited coping strategies, many of the remaining people (mostly women and children) are surviving by gathering wild leaves and breaking into ant nests in search of grains to eat. Off- season gardening, which helps to offset the poor harvest, is practiced only in limited areas every year due to lack of sufficient water. Between January 28 and February 3, a joint mission of CILSS/PREGEC, FEWS NET, and RESAL was conducted in Niamey to assess the food security situation of the arrondissements identified as food insecure by the National Early Warning System (SAP) following the 2000/01 harvest. The mission recommended the free distribution of emergency food aid (for approximately 600,000 “severely food insecure” people within the arrondissements of Tchirozerine (Department of Agadez); Maine Soroa and N'Guigmi (Department of Diffa); and Filingue and Ouallam (Department of Tillabéry). This cereal food aid totals 38,535 MT based on a food ration of 20.25 kg/month/person for a period of three months during the peak of the hungry period, June-August. In addition, the mission recommended immediate food distributions for the population of the cantons of Kourfey and Tagazar in Filingue Arrondissement (Tillabéry Department) where government and NGO personnel report the migration of entire families and excavation of ant nests in search of grain. USAID/Washington has provided US$20 million to launch a 5-year Food Security Initiative (FSI) program in Niger. The American Consortium, which includes, Africare, CARE and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and Helen Keller International (HKI), will execute this program in the areas of community and household food security, health, nutrition, and child survival. Data from the Cereal Market Information System (SIMC) indicate that millet prices in January 2001 were considerably higher than prices in December 2000 and in January during previous years. 1. Food Accessibility: Markets and Prices 1.1. Millet Data from the Cereal Market Information System (SIMC) for January show that cereal prices continued their seasonally higher trend in most markets compared with December 2000 prices. In 15 markets for which data were available for comparison, prices in 6 markets increased by more than 10 percent, prices in 4 remained stable (± 5 percent change), and prices in two markets decreased by less than 5 percent while prices in Agadez decreased by 16 percent. Compared to millet prices January last year, millet prices this year are significantly higher in most markets. Price increases ranged from 21 percent in Tillabéry (Tillabéry Department) to 81 percent in Tanout (Zinder Department). Without corresponding increases in wages and other sources of income, consumer purchasing power for millet has slipped considerably since last year. Figure 1 shows millet prices during January over a four-year period (from 1998 to 2001) in three markets. The Agadez and Tillabéry markets are located in departments where production does not generally meet consumption needs, whereas Zinder is located in a generally surplus department. January 2001 prices in all the three markets are close to, but not as high as, prices in 1997, a year of below-average production. Figure 1. Comparison of Retail Millet Prices in Departmental Capitals, Niger: January 1998 - 2001 200 Jan 1998 Jan 1999 175 Jan 2000 Jan 2001 150 125 100 75 CFA Francs per kg 50 25 0 Agadez Tillabery Zinder FEWS NET/Niger Source: SIMC 2. Vulnerability Update The food security situation in Ouallam Arrondissement is worrisome. According to personnel from Afrique Verte, (an international NGO working in the Department of Tillabéry), GTZ/PASP II (an integrated rural development project), and the Government of Niger agriculture service, the 2000 harvest was extremely poor in the cantons of Ouallam and Tondikiwindi. A dry spell and pest attacks, which came at the critical plant growth and grain-filling stages in the development of millet and cowpeas, resulted in a failed harvest in many parts of these cantons. The pasture situation is also very poor. A late start to the season and inadequate rain has contributed to generally poor rangeland. FEWS NET/Niger Monthly Food Security Update: February 25, 2001 2 Farm household cereal stocks are depleted and most households resort to buying millet in smaller retail quantities because they lack money to buy a full sack of 100 kg. Government and NGO personnel report that desperate households are excavating ant nests in search of grain. Because Ouallam Arrondissement is structurally deficit in food production, seasonal migration of able-bodied men in search of employment is a normal occurrence. But now, unusually large groups of men are migrating, as well as some entire families. Most of the migrants are leaving for Kombabangou (Tera Arrondissement, Department of Tillabéry) to practice artisanal gold mining, to Niamey, and to the Gulf of Guinea coast (Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast). However, there have been fewer migrants to Ivory Coast this year due to the political turmoil and harassment of foreigners by security forces there. Households have limited strategies for coping with periodic poor food availability and access. The most important strategy that contributes significantly to food security in Ouallam is seasonal migration within the country and to neighboring countries that generates remittance income. In addition, small livestock holdings are a traditional means of holding savings as a precaution against poor harvest outcomes or other needs for cash — households reportedly almost never kill them for their own consumption. In normal years, households attempt to limit off-take below the replacement rate. This year, due to poor pasture, households will be forced to sell an unusually large portion of their goats and sheep in the coming months to buy cereals, depleting their livestock assets. However, the advent of the Moslem holiday of Tabaski in March should increase the sale price and demand for rams for those households (mostly women) who have male sheep for sale. Off-season gardening, which helps to offset the poor harvest, is practiced in only limited areas due to lack of regular water sources. In areas where off-season gardening is possible, it is helping to diversify dietary intakes and generate revenues. Field reports indicate that due to limited coping strategies, many of the remaining people (mostly women and children) are surviving by gathering and consuming jiga (a bitter leaf used for sauces) and hanza (a small seed that is cooked and crushed to a paste) as well as by digging up ant nests in search of wild grains hidden inside. In some locations, these were reported to be the only foods available. Processing these foods requires substantial amounts of labor and water to reduce their bitterness (in the case of jiga) or eliminate toxicity (hanza). In the past, many health centers around the country have drawn a connection between the increased consumption of such wild foods and an increased incidence of diarrhea. The government, through regional and local committees, is in the process of selling millet and sorghum at a subsidized price in Ouallam, but so far these cereals have reached very few areas The soudure or hungry period (stretching from March to August) is a time of seasonal food insecurity in Niger, a normal occurrence. In Ouallam, however, the soudure starts as early as November in most years and the end of the soudure is still seven to eight months away. The heaviest energy demands for agricultural households will come during field preparation, planting, and weeding when cereal stocks are at their lowest point, even following a good harvest. Migration out of the area is likely to continue until the rains begin, at which point agriculturalists will return to begin their field preparations and pastoralists will begin moving toward rainy season pastures in the north. As a result, food-for-work activities are better than subsidized sales means to help the population stay in place and meet basic food needs. Subsidized sales are more likely to disrupt local marketing networks without reaching the more vulnerable households, who may not be able to afford to purchase food at virtually any price. FEWS NET/Niger Monthly Food Security Update: February 25, 2001 FEWS NET will join the World Food Program (WFP) in assessing the food security situation of the arrondissements of Ouallam, Filingue, and Tillabéry during March 1-5. 3. Contingency and Response Planning 3.1. Joint Mission of CILSS/PREGEC, FEWS NET, and RESAL Between January 28 and February 3, a joint mission of CILSS/PREGEC, FEWS NET, and RESAL was conducted in Niamey to assess the food security situation of the arrondissements identified as food insecure by the National Early Warning System (SAP) following the 2000/01 harvest. The mission was composed of the chief and information systems specialist of the CILSS Prevention and Management of Food Crises (PREGEC) unit; the regional representative of FEWS NET for the Sahel; a food security analyst at AGRHYMET/CILSS, and a food security expert at the Réseau Européen de Sécurité Alimentaire (RESAL) in Niamey. The mission worked in close collaboration with the Government of Niger’s national technical services (DPA, SAP, OPVN, SIM, CCA) and met several partners and agencies of cooperation (WFP, USA, Canada, European Union) and NGOs (Africare, CARE, Catholic Relief Services) in the country.