Hunger in africa

Aissa Issaka, a 50-year old woman living in the rural village of Todigameye, Niger, used to have to travel 40 kilometers to obtain provisions for her seven children in the season leading up to harvest. Thanks to the work of WFP and its partners, though, Aissa is now able to ‘borrow’ cereal grains from a local cereal bank developed for and managed by women in the village. Aissa will eventually pay the bank back, but at a low interest rate, and after the harvest.

By travelling no farther than the village center to procure rations, Aissa requires less help from her children in conducting and completing domestic duties. This gives her children, particularly the girls (who likely would have stayed home to help while their brothers attended class), the opportunity to enroll in and go to school.

In Niger, 49.6 percent of the population is under the age of 14 (compared to 20.2 percent in the United States), and 44 percent of these children are chronically undernourished. To combat this devastating crisis, WFP is targeting 702 particularly vulnerable schools in rural Niger, providing two hot meals every day and distributing 100 kilograms of dry rations to girls in their last two years of primary school. With this encouragement, not only did enrollment improve, but specifically the number of girls attending school increased tremendously.

Education is one of the most important steps to development – it promotes and increases literacy, improves general health, and postpones marriage and child-bearing. And, providing food to students is a proven method to boost attendance, especially among girls.

With the help of generous donors like you, WFP is able to extend its programs to a greater number of schools, thus boosting attendance throughout Niger and continuing the battle against undernutrition. Families like Aissa’s are still in urgent need of your assistance. WFP’s current mission reaches 3.3 million beneficiaries, 70 percent of whom are families with undernourished children. The World Food Program seeks to maintain this important level of aid, and with the continued help of caring individuals like you, WFP will be able to expand its reach. Thank you for your support!

Pictures:

• A Nigerien woman transports food (JPG)