NIAMEY – Niger authorities on Friday launched an operation aimed at selling cereals at low prices to people experiencing severe food insecurity or flood victims, PANA reported here.
Officials said the move was to assist victims wade through the food scarcity season.
The operation started with an initial plan of 9,500 tonnes of cereals to be made available in the country’s regions where people are facing food insecurity.
The launch ceremony which took place at the district of Koira Tegui, in the outskirts of the capital, Niamey, was presided by the Nigerien Minister of Trade and Private Sector Promotion, Mr Abdou Baaré Haoua.
The campaign is to last six months.
In the market, a 100 kg bag of millet costs around CFAF 22,000 while it will be sold under the new measure at CFAF 13,000.
The low-priced cereals are to be placed under the supervision of the Nigerien Office for food products (OPVN) in each targeted region.
An estimated total of 4,197,614 people, around 23.7 per cent of the Nigerien population, are at risk of severe hunger, according to figures issued at the end of a government survey on vulnerability to food insecurity.
In Niger, the last crop year showed a deficit of 343 566 tonnes of cereals.
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