Niamey, Niger
Nearly a million people, many of them children, face malnutrition as Niger confronts its worst food shortage in two decades. At the start of the summer, Niger’s government refused to distribute free food; instead, it sold grain at subsidized prices, hoping to stabilize the food market. But prices rose and people began to starve. Even in normal years, one child in four dies before age 5. With this year’s famine, children are dying by the thousands, according to newspaper reports and relief agencies. Niger President Mamadou Tanja insisted the reports were “false propaganda” put out by relief workers to boost donations.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
One great cookbook: Joshua McFadden’s ‘Six Seasons of Pasta’the week recommends The pasta you know and love. But ever so much better.
-
Scientists are worried about amoebasUnder the radar Small and very mighty
-
Buddhist monks’ US walk for peaceUnder the Radar Crowds have turned out on the roads from California to Washington and ‘millions are finding hope in their journey’
