Niger

In Niger: fighting against food and nutritional insecurity, coordinating emergency and  development

GRET has been working to fight malnutrition in Niger since 2009, in a context of recurrent crises that impact living conditions and hinder development.

The context: malnutrition in a context of food crisis

There is a strong prevalence of wasting and stunting in Niger. Despite continuous efforts to tackle malnutrition, the indicators are tending to worsen: 15% of wasting and 46.4% of stunting in 2015. National nutrition and nutritional security policies are planning more sustainable prevention strategies, in particular via the production, distribution and promotion of fortified foods.

Hainikoye Issa Moussa, GRET’s representative in Niger gives us feedback: “GRET’s approach makes it possible to provide low-cost fortified products on the Nigerian market that are produced locally and can be directly used by emergency workers in Niger. GRET is a pioneer in Niger in the coordination of interventions between emergency and development on the issues of malnutrition.”

Nutriniger’s actions since 2009

Since 2009, GRET has been supporting ten fortified food (or infant flour) production units. It is the only NGO in Niger with expertise in training and equipment of fortified food production units. In 2015, 8 tons of infant flours were marketed.

In order to improve malnutrition prevention strategies, local stakeholders are trained (396 healthcare workers and community stakeholders in 2015) and awareness-raising sessions with families are organised with the latter. In 2015, awareness was raised among 36,000 people on feeding and nutrition of young children.

The specificities of Nutridev’s action in Niger

In Niger, GRET acts in collaboration with the private sector to develop a quality fortified foods offer in the country. The private sector involved in nutrition is currently emerging in Niger. It is increasingly taken into account in public nutrition policies, in particular with support from the 3N Initiative. GRET supports the local private sector and promotes purchase by food aid programmes of locally produced complementary foods. In addition, it is working with the state on the definition of quality standards for these products, as well as on control and certification of companies.

More information on GRET’s approach for complementary feeding

In Niger, the Nutridev programme also implemented an action-research project on anaemia in adolescents. Following actions dedicated to awareness-raising and distribution of nutritional supplements, the prevalence of anaemia decreased among pupils in the Mirriah department (61.7 % to 59.9 % for boys and 63 % to 57.9 % for girls).

Contact person in the country: Moussa Hainikoye, niger[at]gret.org  or Giorgia Pianelli pianelli[at]gret.org

In Niger GRET conducted the Nutridev programme activities in 2016 with support from:

  • Financial partners: Echo, European Union, French ministry of Foreign Affairs, USAID, WFP
  • Technical partners: ACF, ACF-Spain, CCAGC, Concern Worldwide, CRS Niger, Garin Yaara, Misola, SOS Sahel, Local CSOs and public institutions working in nutrition and certification of food (I3N, DNPQM, AVCN).