Niger

Over 9,300 tonnes of WFP cargo, including specialised foods for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition, are still blocked between the port of Lomé in Togo and the border of Benin.

This cargo should be headed for Niger and Burkina Faso.

According to the WFP, the sudden move affected 90,000 children in early September, but the figure could rise to 160,000 by October unless the borders are opened.

Jean-Noel Gentile, WFP’s Country Director and Representative in Niger said this should not be the case at all.

He said: We cannot allow the children of Niger to be cut off from such a critical nutritional lifeline. To prevent a severe nutritional crisis, supplies must reach the country. If they do not, the consequences will be measured in serious infections and preventable deaths.

Following the political turmoil, according to recent market monitoring by WFP and its partners, the average price of rice and sorghum in the nation jumped by 21%.

Just before the coup, the second-greatest levels of acute hunger since assessments began in 2012 were experienced by 3.3 million people, about 13% of the population.

Particularly concerning is the frightening nutritional situation in hard-to-reach places like northern Tahoua, northern Tillabéry, and some towns in the Dosso region.

Therefore, the high cost of living for families already facing climate change-induced food shortages, food inflation, and a beat-down economy is making the situation worse.

“This situation has forced WFP to suspend supplementary feeding to 90 000 moderately malnourished children in Tahoua, Maradi and Zinder, starting in early September,” the WFP said.

“The suspension of WFP’s nutritional support is likely to exacerbate child malnutrition in a country where vulnerable families already struggle to access nutritious foods due to seasonal shortages, rising food prices, and low purchasing power during the lean season and pre-harvest periods.”

Niger’s economy loses an estimated 289 billion CFA francs ($539 million or R10 billion) a year owing to child malnutrition, and one in every two children under five who die there have experienced some type of malnutrition, according to figures from the national statistics institute of Niger.

Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown and imprisoned by the country’s presidential guard on 26 July 2023. Shortly after the coup, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the Presidential Guard’s commander, proclaimed himself the leader of a military junta. 

The Economic Community of West African States has rejected Niger junta’s three-year power transition plan.

ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, stated this during an interview with the BBC on Sunday.

The head of the military junta in Niger Republic, Gen.Abdourahamane Tiani, on Saturday, said he would relinquish power within three years and warned that any intervention by foreign forces would not be “a walk in the park.”

He stated in a televised address broadcast by Tele Sahel, “Our ambition is not to confiscate power. The transition period will not exceed three years; meanwhile, political parties are urged to submit their vision for the transition within 30 days.

“There’s availability for any dialogue, provided that it takes into account the aspirations of the people of Niger. However, any intervention will open Pandora box and will not be a walk in the park.”

His warning followed the arrival of an ECOWAS delegation in the country for a final diplomatic push before deciding on military intervention against the junta.

But in the BBC interview, Musah said that  Tchiani’s proposal was just a smokescreen for dialogue and diplomacy. 

He said, “ECOWAS is not accepting any prolonged transition again in the region. They just have to get ready to hand over in the shortest possible time.”

He added that the “military aspect is very much on.”

“The earlier they give power back to civilians and concentrate on their primary responsibility that is defending the territorial integrity of Niger, the better for them.”

Meanwhile, pro-junta protesters on Sunday took to the streets of Niamey to restate their support for the military takeover of power in Niger Republic.

According to AFP, the demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to former colonial power France and West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, which is considering a potential military operation to reinstate elected president Mohamed Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.

Although the Sahel state’s new military leaders have officially banned protests, in practice, those in support of the coup are allowed to go ahead.

The demonstrators waved placards saying “Stop the military intervention” and “No to sanctions”, in reference to the financial and trade restrictions imposed by ECOWAS four days after the coup on July 26.