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Millions in Niger on brink of starving

LONDON - About 3.6-million people face starvation in the West African nation of Niger unless the international community responds urgently to the food crisis there, the aid agency Oxfam said today.

Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, was devastated by an invasion of locusts that ate everything green last year and was then hit by drought that lasted until earlier this month.

The U.N.'s humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, said earlier this week that 2.5-million people in landlocked Niger were in desperate need of food after the world community ignored U.N. appeals for urgent aid.

Oxfam estimated that almost 1-million children were at risk.

"The situation is desperate. Even the limited food that is available has soared in price, rendering it unaffordable for most families, and there is no hope of any harvest for at least three months," said Natasha Kafoworola Quist, an Oxfam spokeswoman.

"Families are feeding their children grass and leaves from the trees to keep them alive."

Oxfam said U.N. appeals for aid were "dangerously" underfunded. In many cases, the pledged money hasn't arrived, the agency added.

The United Nations first appealed for assistance for Niger in November and got almost no response. Another appeal for $16-million in March got about $1-million. The latest appeal in May for $30-million netted about $10-million.

The U.N. "needs money now. Every day that the world's richest countries look the other way, more people face starvation. They have to put their hands in their pockets before it's too late," Quist said.

[Last modified July 21, 2005, 00:57:10]