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Niger is ranked by the United Nations Development Program as among the poorest countries in the world, with nearly two thirds of the population living below the national poverty line. A landlocked country that suffers from encroaching deserts, Niger struggles with ongoing food insecurity, drought, hunger and malnutrition.
Mercy Corps has worked in Niger since 2005, when we launched our programs to help address malnutrition among children under five. Today, our programs in rural and urban communities promote health and nutrition, food security and economic development.
Improving Nutrition and Community Health
Between 2005 and 2011, Mercy Corps – in partnership with public health staff in Filingué and Loga Departments and in Niamey’s peri-urban communities – provided logistical and technical support to ensure therapeutic treatment for 60,000 malnourished children and pregnant and lactating women.
Mercy Corps then expanded its nutrition intervention into a comprehensive community-based health program to address the more systemic causes of malnutrition and to focus efforts on prevention. Mercy Corps is improving maternal and child health by supporting community networks for the early detection of malnutrition and childhood illness. We’ve also strengthened the capacities of local health workers, community volunteers and local government entities, reaching more than 370,000 people in 547 villages.
To address the food crisis in 2010, Mercy Corps procured food locally to provide monthly rations to 28,524 vulnerable households (approximately 228,192 people) to help them meet their immediate food needs. Mercy Corps also provided beneficiaries with vouchers so that they could purchase food with local vendors.
Fostering Economic Development and Livelihoods
Complementing efforts to improve community health, Mercy Corps has strengthened livelihoods in the communities where we work. We’ve provided vocational training for women and youth, sub-grants for community-based health and nutrition-related activities, and promoted savings and credit among women. These activities have helped communities bring to fruition such locally managed projects as repairing wells, making improvements to health center infrastructure and community gardening.
In response to the recent drought and food crisis, Mercy Corps is working to stabilize the hard-hit pastoral population. We are helping 6,000 pastoralists re-establish their animal stock and are improving access to animal health care and feed to promote long-lasting assistance. To date, more than 18,000 heads of livestock have benefitted from Mercy Corps’ interventions. The program also has a Cash-For-Work component, aimed at increasing household income.
From 2009-2011, Mercy Corps supported urban populations that were among the most affected by the rise in global food prices by increasing the purchasing power of vulnerable households through short-term Cash-for-Work activities while simultaneously revitalizing an important dairy value chain in urban Niamey. With Mercy Corps’ support, three dairy cooperatives more than doubled the daily milk production of their herds. With the increased availability of fresh milk, Mercy Corps provided small grants to a total of 2,556 small enterprises who were active in processing, selling, storing or transporting dairy products. These small enterprises recorded more than $435,000 in sales in a one-year period. As a result of this program, Mercy Corps increased the household income of vulnerable families and improved the general public’s access to milk and milk products.
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