page 1
WFP - UNHCR Video New Release
UN AGENCY CHIEFS VISIT TO NIGER
Shot 6th of May
Location: Maradi, Niger
English – French
Aspect: 16:9
TRT: 2:17
SHOTLIST:
00:00 – 00:31Zabon Moucho
GV’s of food distribution site for pregnant women andinfants
00:31 – 00:41
GV of Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, Ms Ertharin Cousin, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees AntónioGuterres at food distribution site.
00:41 – 00:52
SOT Ertharin Cousin, WFP Executive Director
“Mothers have been telling me how much they appreciate the support that they are receiving from WFP, because without this food they would have nothing else to feed their children”
00:52 01:15
A mother and her child receive the food ration
01:15-01:52 Safo, department of Madarounfa
WFP Cash-for-Work project. Men and women are paid cash to boost infrastructure by de-weeding, digging of half-moon irrigation troughs, and sowing of grass for livestock consumption.
01:52 – 01:57 SOT French: Mamane Ibrahim, father of 14 children
“with the money I earned, as soon as I go home, I will buy food for my family “
01:57 – 02:17
GV of workers getting paid
END
As of November 2011, 7 percent of the region’s population was considered severely food insecure. Maradi has been particularly affected by pest infestations resulting in heavy crop losses; the early and systematic rise in food prices compounded by variable and often limited availability of cereals on the market; the return of migrant workers following insecurity in Nigeria; and the reduction in fuel subsidies in Nigeria, affecting food and fuel costs in southern areas of Niger. The situation of pastoralists is of particular concern as pastureland and water for livestock is becoming increasingly limited, compounded by insecurity in neighboring Nigeria which has disrupted traditional movement of herders.
Vulnerable households have relied increasingly on negative coping mechanisms to meet basic food and other survival needs, including: migrating in larger numbers and for longer periods – affecting children’s school attendance; selling productive assets; and reducing the quality, quantity, and variety of food consumed.
The situation of children is of particular concern. The June 2011 national nutrition survey found acute malnutrition prevalence of 12.2 percent among children 6-59 months; among children 6-23 months, the prevalence was 21.4 percent. The nutrition situation is anticipated to have deteriorated further as a result of the compounded food security shocks in the area since end 2011.
Maradi has been targeted under WFP’s preemptive response to the crisis since November 2011, benefitting from food and cash-for-work, to keep families in place and children in school, and targeted supplementary feeding activities in 150 CRENAMs (nutrition feeding centers) in the region for the treatment of moderately malnourished children. Since the scale-up, as of end April WFP has assisted 204,498 beneficiaries in the region.