The Niger | Response overview - March 2020

Key points

• Increased violence in bordering regions with Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria, and intercommunal conflict have caused an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the Niger along with higher levels of food insecurity and malnutrition.
• Poor distribution of rains, delayed rains and absence of rains, depending on the area, have resulted in an 11.3-million tonne fodder deficit, significantly disrupting the livelihoods of pastoral households, which are already affected by restricted access to traditional grazing grounds in neighbouring countries due to increased insecurity.
• Disruptions to rainfall along with caterpillar attacks have also affected the outcome of the 2019/20 agricultural campaign, with a 12-percent drop in cereal production compared with 2018/19.
• Flash floods in 2019, particularly in Agadez, Diffa, Maradi and Zinder, have affected over 259 000 people and resulted in the disruption of livelihoods and loss of livestock.