Gifts
Roger Burks
Senior Writer
Share:
Global warming is not only causing already-meager water supplies in the West African nation of Niger to dry up — it's also driving young men from drought-stricken rural areas in search of work to provide for their families. This migration to increasingly-overcrowded urban areas is further straining the resources of one of the world's poorest countries.
Mercy Corps has been working in Niger since 2005, the year a catastrophic drought and food shortage left millions fighting for survival.
In a piece he wrote for ONE, Mercy Corps Action Center Executive Director Robert Sherman describes the still-unfolding situation and presents a video that provides insight through a Nigerien farmer named Namata Abba.
Share:
Filed under
- Countries: Niger
- Topics: Agricultural development, Climate change, Emergency response, Food security, Urban initiatives
- Tags: Hunger, Migrants, Rural
DELORES CARLSON
September 6, 2009 8:22PM
jUST HEARD THE STORY ON DATELINE TONIGHT! i HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE IN THEIR REALM, i AM ANGERED AND ALSO HAPPY . i AM ANGERED BY THE ACTIONS OF THE POLICE AND AND THE BELIEVES OF THESE PEOPLE AND YET I AM HAPPY THAT THESE TWO WOMEN HAVE COME TO REALIZE THAT THEIR LIVES ARE WORTH MORE ! I WOULD LIKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE STORIES WITH BOTH OF THEM. IN ACTUALLITY WITH ALL OF THEM. WOMEN ARE JUST THE SAME AS MEN, WE MIGHT LOOK AND ACT DIFFERENT, YET WE NEED TO FEEL LIKE OUR LIVES ARE WORTHWHILE. WE STAND FOR SOMETHING. WE ARE NOT DIRT AND WE ARE NOT ANIMALS. WE ARE HUMANBEINGS WITH FEELINGS AND WANTS AND DESIRES. HOPES AND DREAMS FILL OUR MINDS WHEN WE ARE NOT BEING BEATEN DOWN.