MDG Target 1: To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

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1 MDG Target 1: To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Sub target 1C: To halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. By Geordie Wilson

2 Hunger Heavy reliance on agriculture with over 90% of the workforce in the industry Only 12% arable land as 80% of Niger is the Sahara Desert Causes hunger and malnourishment as droughts decimate agricultural yields Lack of Food increases prices to a point where families can not afford the food even if it is available (e.g Food Crisis) exacerbating hunger Niger s population growth rate of 7.7 per woman is unsustainable and by 2040 the country will be home to approx. 55 million people

3 6.4 million people suffering from a lack of food from the latest food crisis 1. 3 million children have become malnourished In addition, 60% of the population are vulnerable Families forced to make tough decisions

4 Diagram illustrating the number of <5 yr old children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)

5 Community: Increased food prices 75% increase in the price of some staple grains since 2011 Deterioration of living conditions/public facilities Families: Forced to eat leaves + poisonous berries that must be boiled 5 times before they are safe to eat Often forced to endure the death by starvation of the children Children: Vulnerable to health impacts of malnutrition Forced to drop-out of school ( dropouts so far with at risk of dropping out before the crisis subsides) Young girls are being sold into marriage by families to reduce the number of mouths they need to feed (more than 37% of Nigerien girls are married before they reach the legal marriage age of 15)

6 Natural Disasters/Climate Change: Desertification: Political Instability/Lack of Funds + Debt:

7 Why? Massive debt ( 2003 estimate was over 2 billion dollars) Qualified for Nothing of significance has been enhanced debt relief via the IMF in 2000, as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country Lack of funds done by the government!! However: The current Nigerien government has received praise for its willingness to seek international assistance and the transparency of its approach

8 Niger s situation has received vocal NGO support in the form of raising awareness for the issue, providing healthcare and educational facilities, providing food aid and also through child sponsorship World Vision pioneered a program called the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) to educate farmers on modernised and drought-resistant farming techniques (2009 = 2.5 million extra people fed through farmers employing this strategy) Up to 40 percent of government revenue is through foreign aid

9 A branch of the United Nations Providing steady supply of food + approx. 85% of supplies and equipment needed across 44 hospitals to treat children with Severe Acute Malnutrition and other medical complications

10 What? Invest heavily in education particularly in regards to modernised agricultural techniques and contraceptive education (in an attempt to curb population growth) Utilise plentiful supplies of natural resources such as uranium, gold, oil, coal and tin Continue to provide foreign food aid Who can make these changes? Government/NGOs

11 More money is always useful however this problem would only be curbed in the short-term as economic aid does not address the primary environmental factors that continue to cause hunger This economic aid could come in the form of: Debt forgiveness would allow Niger to increase spending on basic education and health care, rural infrastructure and other programs aimed at poverty reduction Increased donations by the international community to NGOs supporting the situation

12 Similarly, having fair trade (i.e. cheaper grain costs for farmers + more reasonable selling prices) would benefit the situation however, the benefits would be insubstantial Why? The introduction of fair trade at this stage will do little to assist the nation in the current food crisis and would be ineffectual in an effort for Niger to reach the goal in 2015 It is often not an absence of fair trade that is causing hunger because it is the environmental factors such as droughts that cause a reduction in the production of food If, as is in many cases, the food is unavailable, fair trade will not benefit anyone However: Fair trade in the future especially once issues of climate change affecting agricultural yields and causing hunger is settled would reduce the structural injustice on farmers Would prevent occurrences such as in 2005, where the food was available it was just that Nigerien families could not afford to buy it

13 While there was considerable corruption within the Nigerien government of the 1970s (conveniently also at the time of another devastating drought) it was the drafting of a new constitution in 1991 and the subsequent 3 year transitional government that led to the deterioration of the economy Currently, corruption is not the problem in Niger as much as the fact that the government simply does not have sufficient funds to facilitate economic growth or to develop infrastructure to combat the issue of hunger at its core However, the government should: Support the introduction of contraception education into the education system in order to ensure that Niger s unsustainable population growth rate is slowed and to give the country any chance of recovery

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