This weeks feature : Médecins Sans Frontières Australia

June 2007

Niger – Acute malnutrition: 2007 showing worrying trends

In the Zinder region of Niger, 4372 children suffering from malnutrition have already been treated by MSF since the beginning of the year. This figure is higher than the equivalent period in 2006 and is causing concern for MSF teams.

Endemic malnutrition
Malnutrition is endemic in Niger because of structural factors and economic reasons. Firstly, the desert forms the vast majority of the landscape. The population is therefore concentrated in the south of the country. Here, agriculture is not very developed and is mainly based on the cultivation of millet and sorghum. Families must rely on a harvest which is dependent on climate variations.

When the hunger gap* period sets in, food reserves from the October harvest have generally been used up. The majority of families have no reserves at all. The nutritional crisis in 2005 occurred because of a poor harvest, and the reserves that families had gathered were very quickly exhausted. Illegal trading of these cereals generated a sudden rise in the market price, especially with millet. To get out of their debt, some families were forced to sell their cattle and even their land, leading to even further poverty.

2006: an improvement
In 2006, more than 15,000 children were treated in our nutritional program in the Zinder region. This figure was much lower than in 2005, suggesting that there had been an improvement in the nutritional situation in the country. However, between January and June 2007, MSF teams have now treated 2725 children suffering from severe malnutrition and 1647 with moderate malnutrition in our nutritional centres.

For the more complicated cases of malnutrition, MSF has hospitalisation facilities and also ambulatory centres for patients who follow treatment at home. In June alone, the needs were such that we had to reopen some ambulatory centres, allowing us to treat 740 children.

2007: worrying trends
Between 11 and 15 June, 215 children aged between 6 and 59 months suffering from severe malnutrition and associated illnesses were admitted into our intensive rehabilitation and nutritional education centre (CRENI) in Zinder and 248 children were admitted to the CRENI in Magaria. Twenty percent of patients come from Tanout, north of Zinder.

Our ambulatory rehabilitation and nutritional education centres (CRENA) have admitted 54 children in Bangaza, 35 in Malawa and 126 in Magaria. The number of patients admitted in the program is higher than last year at the same time. Although the price of millet is stable, this trend indicates that some families already have no food reserves.

A nutritional survey will begin at the end of June to give a precise assessment as to the severity of the nutritional situation in the region.

*Hunger gap
The hunger gap occurs when there is literally no more food in the pantry. Food reserves are exhausted. People are forced to wait for the next harvest until they can replenish their food stocks. The period is variable, but generally lasts for three or four months from June to September. During these few months, families must find the means to get food.

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