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Niger: Food Prices Up
By Abdoulaye Massalatchi
NIAMEY, April 22 (Reuters) - An avian flu outbreak in Niger is pushing up food prices in one of the world's poorest countries, where millions are still reeling from widespread food shortages last year, government figures showed on Saturday.
The price of meat rose 7.7 percent in March, with poultry prices soaring by more than a third as supply dwindled after restrictions on the movement of fowl were imposed when the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus was confirmed in the country at the end of February.
The price increases pushed the annualised inflation rate to 7 percent, well above the 3-percent threshold set by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the country's national statistics office said in its monthly bulletin.
"This situation is due to the psychosis that has come from the appearance of avian flu in the country," the report said.
Niger began culling poultry two weeks ago after appealing for international help to deal with the bird flu outbreak.
Health experts fear Africa's poor human and animal health services, large backyard poultry population and lack of resources to fight avian flu make it an easy target for the disease, which has killed more than 100 people worldwide.
The monthly report said prices for red meat rose as demand increased due to the reduced availability of chicken, while grain prices -- already well above historical norms after last year's food crisis -- also continued to rise.
STRONGER HARVEST
Drought and a locust plague devastated harvests in the semi-desert former French colony in late 2004, but despite warnings from the government and aid agencies that 3.6 million people were at risk, children were already starting to die of hunger and disease by the time significant donations came in.
This year's harvests were much stronger. The government said late on Friday that the 2005-2006 season produced a cereal surplus of around 21,700 tonnes compared to a deficit of 223,000 the previous season.
But despite the improvement, high market prices mean many families are still struggling to feed themselves particularly as they try to pay off debts accumulated during last year's crisis.
Aid workers also warn that malnutrition has long-lasting medical effects which will continue to cause suffering even as food security improves.
"The good harvest is good news for many Nigeriens but there are also many who are reeling from the effects of last year's crisis," said Marcus Prior, spokesman for the U.N. World Food Programme in West Africa.
The United Nations warned last month that hunger could kill more than 300,000 children this year in the region if donor nations fail to stump up money for food aid, with Niger again potentially the hardest hit.
The world body said it needed $92 million to help feed 2.9 million people at risk in Niger, 1.3 million in Burkina Faso, 740,000 in Mali and more than 400,000 in Mauritania.
The government in Niger has denied it is facing another hunger crisis this year and has stopped accrediting foreign journalists wanting to report on the situation.
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I have mentioned several times that the bio-safe chicken and egg producers will benefit from a decrease in supply.
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NIAMEY, April 22 (Reuters) - An avian flu outbreak in Niger is pushing up food prices in one of the world's poorest countries, where millions are still reeling from widespread food shortages last year, government figures showed on Saturday.
The price of meat rose 7.7 percent in March, with poultry prices soaring by more than a third as supply dwindled after restrictions on the movement of fowl were imposed when the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus was confirmed in the country at the end of February.
The price increases pushed the annualised inflation rate to 7 percent, well above the 3-percent threshold set by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the country's national statistics office said in its monthly bulletin.
"This situation is due to the psychosis that has come from the appearance of avian flu in the country," the report said.
Niger began culling poultry two weeks ago after appealing for international help to deal with the bird flu outbreak.
Health experts fear Africa's poor human and animal health services, large backyard poultry population and lack of resources to fight avian flu make it an easy target for the disease, which has killed more than 100 people worldwide.
The monthly report said prices for red meat rose as demand increased due to the reduced availability of chicken, while grain prices -- already well above historical norms after last year's food crisis -- also continued to rise.
STRONGER HARVEST
Drought and a locust plague devastated harvests in the semi-desert former French colony in late 2004, but despite warnings from the government and aid agencies that 3.6 million people were at risk, children were already starting to die of hunger and disease by the time significant donations came in.
This year's harvests were much stronger. The government said late on Friday that the 2005-2006 season produced a cereal surplus of around 21,700 tonnes compared to a deficit of 223,000 the previous season.
But despite the improvement, high market prices mean many families are still struggling to feed themselves particularly as they try to pay off debts accumulated during last year's crisis.
Aid workers also warn that malnutrition has long-lasting medical effects which will continue to cause suffering even as food security improves.
"The good harvest is good news for many Nigeriens but there are also many who are reeling from the effects of last year's crisis," said Marcus Prior, spokesman for the U.N. World Food Programme in West Africa.
The United Nations warned last month that hunger could kill more than 300,000 children this year in the region if donor nations fail to stump up money for food aid, with Niger again potentially the hardest hit.
The world body said it needed $92 million to help feed 2.9 million people at risk in Niger, 1.3 million in Burkina Faso, 740,000 in Mali and more than 400,000 in Mauritania.
The government in Niger has denied it is facing another hunger crisis this year and has stopped accrediting foreign journalists wanting to report on the situation.
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=194 border=0 VALIGN="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=linkBullet vAlign=top width=3>
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I have mentioned several times that the bio-safe chicken and egg producers will benefit from a decrease in supply.
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