Communities receiving food in the midst of the food crisis
By Baraze, Amadou
A Food for Work project from World Vision in partnership with World Food Program helped retain communities in their villages despite the food crisis that still rages in the Sahel.
"The rains were scarce, grasshoppers destroyed crops..."
In short, these are some reasons evoked by communities to express the cause of the food crisis they are currently experiencing.
At the sight of the many women who sometimes carry babies on their backs or even very advanced in age and dig the hard soil under a hot sun, one naturally understands the state of food insecurity. Communities are in agony and are able to eat only thanks to measures of relief that World Vision has undertaken in partnership with World Food Program (WFP).
"I can tell you that there had been times, we eat even millet bran which normally is for animals, but now with the support from World Vision we have wheat, lentils and oil,” says Haoua Adamou a 50-year-old woman and mother of seven children.
Another woman, Limou Halidou, a 60-year-old widow and mother of six children, adds, “With your support [World Vision] now we know that we do not have to leave our village because we will have to eat.”
Indeed, there are some 975 households directly benefiting from the World Vision’s Food for Work project in Tillabery region with each household receiving 34.72kgs of food after working for eight days. "With the amount of food we receive, my family of 15 members can eat for another 10 days,” Haoua Adamou says.
In addition to the region of Tillabery, World Vision, again in partnership with WFP, is undertaking similar activities in another two regions of Niger, namely Zinder where 1,396 households are benefiting from the Food For Work (FFW) and in Maradi where 1,245 households are also benefitting from the Food For Work program and 5,716 households are benefiting from the Cash For Work (CFW).
With the CFW and FFW activities, World Vision helps communities to meet their immediate food needs, but also allows for recovery of soils so that in the future communities they can find fertile ground where they can produce plenty of crops to feed themselves and produce more fodder for their livestock.
Haoua Adamou says that World Vision came at the right time to provide relief from the tormenting food crisis. “The only alternative is to leave the village, indeed, some began to leave, it's your intervention that stopped us as now we can have to eat,” Haoua Amadou says, before adding, “If you had arrived a month later you would have found the village already emptied of its inhabitants because nobody will stay and starve here."
Indeed, World Vision’s intervention is the only means of subsistence for these communities and it is also clear that all the hope that the communities have is bound to the activities World Vision is carrying out there to ensure they get food.
World Vision’s work in Tillabery region received appreciation from the local authorities at the high level with the Governor General Youssoufa Maiga saying, “World Vision is our closest partner as we have seen it intervening during the last flood and here are you again during this food crisis helping our communities. We are really happy with your work in Tillabery, please be our ambassadors before other relief agencies to come and help also.”
The food crisis still rages, but with the support provided by World Vision, there is a glimmer of hope on the faces and communities are more than certain that if this support continues they will no longer need to leave their villages and, with the amount of land recovered, they will produce enough to eat when the rain comes.
In short, these are some reasons evoked by communities to express the cause of the food crisis they are currently experiencing.
At the sight of the many women who sometimes carry babies on their backs or even very advanced in age and dig the hard soil under a hot sun, one naturally understands the state of food insecurity. Communities are in agony and are able to eat only thanks to measures of relief that World Vision has undertaken in partnership with World Food Program (WFP).
"I can tell you that there had been times, we eat even millet bran which normally is for animals, but now with the support from World Vision we have wheat, lentils and oil,” says Haoua Adamou a 50-year-old woman and mother of seven children.
Another woman, Limou Halidou, a 60-year-old widow and mother of six children, adds, “With your support [World Vision] now we know that we do not have to leave our village because we will have to eat.”
Indeed, there are some 975 households directly benefiting from the World Vision’s Food for Work project in Tillabery region with each household receiving 34.72kgs of food after working for eight days. "With the amount of food we receive, my family of 15 members can eat for another 10 days,” Haoua Adamou says.
In addition to the region of Tillabery, World Vision, again in partnership with WFP, is undertaking similar activities in another two regions of Niger, namely Zinder where 1,396 households are benefiting from the Food For Work (FFW) and in Maradi where 1,245 households are also benefitting from the Food For Work program and 5,716 households are benefiting from the Cash For Work (CFW).
With the CFW and FFW activities, World Vision helps communities to meet their immediate food needs, but also allows for recovery of soils so that in the future communities they can find fertile ground where they can produce plenty of crops to feed themselves and produce more fodder for their livestock.
Haoua Adamou says that World Vision came at the right time to provide relief from the tormenting food crisis. “The only alternative is to leave the village, indeed, some began to leave, it's your intervention that stopped us as now we can have to eat,” Haoua Amadou says, before adding, “If you had arrived a month later you would have found the village already emptied of its inhabitants because nobody will stay and starve here."
Indeed, World Vision’s intervention is the only means of subsistence for these communities and it is also clear that all the hope that the communities have is bound to the activities World Vision is carrying out there to ensure they get food.
World Vision’s work in Tillabery region received appreciation from the local authorities at the high level with the Governor General Youssoufa Maiga saying, “World Vision is our closest partner as we have seen it intervening during the last flood and here are you again during this food crisis helping our communities. We are really happy with your work in Tillabery, please be our ambassadors before other relief agencies to come and help also.”
The food crisis still rages, but with the support provided by World Vision, there is a glimmer of hope on the faces and communities are more than certain that if this support continues they will no longer need to leave their villages and, with the amount of land recovered, they will produce enough to eat when the rain comes.
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