NIGER Monthly Food Security Update March 2006 Alert Level: No alert Watch Warning Emergency SUMMARY Summary of the food and nutrition situation Summary & timeline.................1 The food security situation in Niger as of the month of March was marked by pockets of Current hazard summary .........1 food insecurity in agropastoral and pastoral areas of the country, in the wake of the Food security, health and nutrition depletion of grain reserves, the repayment of debts incurred during last year’s crisis, .................................................2 localized grain and forage deficits and relatively high price levels compared with the five- Stream flow conditions.............4 year average. There has been very little movement in prices for major grain crops since Market situation .......................4 February, but price levels are still relatively high compared with the average, despite a Relief efforts.............................5 good harvest this past growing season. Most likely, this price stability is connected with the improvement in grain availability derived from commercial imports from neighboring countries such as Mali and Nigeria. According to nutrition stakeholders, admissions rates for therapeutic feeding centers in the Maradi and Zinder regions are starting to inch upwards and are expected to pick up even further during the upcoming lean period. As far as health conditions are concerned, according to the National Health Information System (SNIS), 984 cases of meningitis were reported over the period between January 1 and March 21, with 64 fatalities. These localized signs of a deterioration of food security and nutrition warrant the implementation of special programs designed to quickly ease adverse conditions in highly food-insecure areas by strengthening the capacity of local households to deal with a possible serious erosion of their sources of food and income. Such programs would help improve the food access of impoverished households and protect their sources of income, enabling them to better manage during the upcoming lean period and begin the growing season in better condition. Food security conditions in Niger in the wake of a confirmed epizootic bird flu outbreak in the southern part of the country are propelling stakeholders to mobilize with a view to containing the spread of the disease. The spread of this disease to other parts of the country would undercut the income of poor households. Timeline of major events and warning signs Current hazard summary Bird flu: The food situation is tarnished by an epizootic outbreak of bird flu. Since the confirmation of a bird flu outbreak in Magaria and Zinder departments in the south, close to the country’s border with Nigeria, which was the first country to confirm the presence of the H5N1 virus anywhere in Africa, the government of Niger has taken a number of measures including but not limited to the crafting of an emergency plan, a call for international aid and the establishment of a quarantine zone with a five-kilometer radius around infected areas, with bans on any and all poultry movements and confinement measures for the slaughtering and incineration of the existing bird population. At the nationwide level, it also imposed strict bans on poultry movements between different regions. This could undermine the sources of income for USAID/Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)-NIGER Tel: 041-532530; 265 15 48 92 - [email protected] World Food Programme-NIGER/VAM; Tel: 00221 72 23 20; Koffi AKAKPO – [email protected] NIGER: UPDATE ON THE FOOD AND NUTRITION SITUATION MARCH 2006 poor households partially dependent on poultry sales as a way of ensuring their food access, particularly during the lean period. Food-insecure areas: There are a number of pockets of food insecurity confined mainly to agropastoral and farming areas of the country. Local households have begun to develop so-called “negative resilience” strategies and conditions during the upcoming lean period could further curtail their food access without immediate relief efforts. Reported cases of meningitis: According to the National Health Information System (SNIS), a meningitis epidemic, with 989 cases reported over the period from January 1 - March 21, has produced a total of 64 fatalities nationwide, translating into a mortality rate of 6.5%. Most outbreaks of the disease have been confined to the Maradi region. Relatively little movement in grain prices between February and March: Prices for all major grain crops on most markets around the country have been relatively stable since the month of February. Food security, health and nutrition Household food security in areas plagued by large grain and forage deficits and areas hard hit by last year’s food crisis has visibly deteriorated since last month. There are a number of contributing factors at play, including: 1. The relatively high prices of all major staple grain crops for this time of year compared with the five-year average; 2. Localized reports of poor grain availability; 3. Localized reports of a downturn in terms of trade for livestock/grain from the standpoint of pastoralists. Destitute households in the northern Map 1: Status of food-insecure areas reaches of Ouallam, Garhanga (Keita) and western Kornaka (Dakoro) are cutting back their number of daily meals, while growing numbers of laborers are looking for work in and around large urban population centers. In herding areas, with the untimely steady deterioration in forage availability for consumption by the animal population and the premature drying of seasonal lakes and ponds, pastoralists and their animals are beginning to head out for more lush pastures in southern Niger and neighboring countries such as Nigeria and Mali. According to the Association for the Revitalization of the Livestock-Raising Industry in Niger (AREN), grazing conditions in the Ayorou (Tillabery), Banibangou (Ouallam) and Abala (Filingué) areas are especially Source: SAP (National Early Warning System), SANI , AREN, SNIS alarming. In the wake of the confirmation of the presence of the bird flu virus in Magaria (Zinder), the government and its food security partners are focusing their health control efforts on rigorously enforcing quarantines of infected areas and planning for the slaughtering of bird populations within established quarantine zones. Suspected outbreaks of the disease confined to the N’Guigmi area in February have since spread to the Birnin Konni and Dosso regions. Pending receipt of the results of tests conducted on dead bird specimens from the Konni, N’Guigmi and Dosso areas by a foreign laboratory, the technical committee tasked with containing the spread of the disease is continuing to monitor these areas closely. 2 NIGER: UPDATE ON THE FOOD AND NUTRITION SITUATION MARCH 2006 Turning to the nutrition situation, there have been Figure 2: Trends in the number of admissions of severely minor fluctuations in the number of admissions of malnourished children to treatment centers in Keita and Abalak moderately and severely malnourished children to therapeutic feeding centers monitored by the NGO 35 Action Against Hunger (ACF) in the Tahoua and 30 Keita areas since the month of January, but 25 admissions rates are still relatively low compared 20 with figures for last year’s lean period. There are numerous reports of a rise in moderate malnutrition 15 in Magaria and Tanout departments (in the Zinder 10 region) as the lean period looms nearer. According admissions of Number 5 to several sources, including OCHA, there has also been a steady increase in the number of cases of 0 1/2 1/9 1/16 1/23 1/30 2/6 2/13 2/20 2/27 3/6 3/13 moderate and severe malnutrition admitted to to to to to to to to to to to to therapeutic feeding centers in Maradi since 1/8 1/15 1/22 1/29 2/5 2/12 2/19 2/26 3/5 3/12 3/19 January. Nutrition stakeholders are marshalling TOTAL ABALAK KEITA human, financial and logistic resources for the treatment of malnourished children in preparation Source: Action Against Hunger for the normal seasonal upsurge in severe and moderate malnutrition during the pre-harvest lean period. Looking at health conditions, according to the National Health Information System (SNIS), a meningitis epidemic, with 984 cases of the disease reported over the period between January 1 and March 21 of this year, is responsible for 64 fatalities nationwide, translating into a mortality rate of 6.5%. Most outbreaks were confined to Madarounfa, Guidan Roumdji, Aguié and Maradi departments. An emergency plan was put into effect by government health authorities, assisted by the country’s development partners, in an effort to control the spread of this disease. Household food economy and livelihoods The juxtaposition of various negative economic factors is expected to weaken the food Figure 3: Trends in terms of trade for male sheep/millet in Abalak (January 2005 - March 2006) economy of poor households in farming and pastoral areas, making them vulnerable to 35,000 120 economic shocks during the upcoming lean 30,000 period. Such factors include trends in terms of 100 trade and the repayment of debts incurred during last year’s food crisis. 25,000 80 A combination of falling prices for small 20,000 livestock animals generally raised by poor 60 households and comparatively high grain prices CFAF 15,000 since November of last year has been steadily 40 kg/male sheep eroding terms of trade for pastoralists. For 10,000 example, the sale of a male sheep in N’Guigmi 20 brought in 35 kg of millet back in February of 5,000 this year, compared with only 30 kg in March, 0 0 which is a 17% drop (Figure 3). Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul AugSep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar There has been an especially sharp erosion of Price of 1 male sheep Pricve of 100 kg millet Kg millet per male sheep terms of trade in areas reporting large forage Source: SIMB (Livestock Market Information System) deficits.