FAO response to food crisis in Sahel
FAO responds to food crisis in Niger.
©Photo: ©FAO/Issouf Sanogo
Vulnerable families will be involved in cash-for-work activities to rehabilitate pasture land and carry out erosion control works.
Adressing the root cause of the problem
Meanwhile, FAO continues to provide additional, longer-term support to farmers under the EU Food Facility (EUFF), the EU's aid response to rising world hunger. In Niger, €3 million is being used to build or rehabilitate agricultural input stores and warehouses, rehabilitate lowlands for vegetable production, improve seed production and spread knowledge through farmer field schools.
EUFF funds are also being used to scale-up an innovative financing scheme to allow smallholder farmers in Niger to make more money. Under this warrantage system, groups of farmers can access credit from a rural microfinance bank providing part of their agricultural production as guarantee.
The credit gives the smallholders the means to buy essential inputs for the next planting and also allows them to hold on to the produce until the lean season - when food stocks start to run low and prices climb.
Maarten Roest Communications officer, FAO (+32) 2 2040 741 [email protected]