Libya sends relief load to Niger

May 27, 2008 Reuters report (via ReliefWeb) entitled 'Libya sends aid to drought-hit Niger':

TRIPOLI, May 27 (Reuters) - Libya on Tuesday sent 30 tonnes of humanitarian relief to drought-stricken Niger, one of several African states struggling to cope with a surge in global food prices, Libyan state media said on Tuesday.

Libya also sent a team of doctors and pharmacists to distribute the aid, which includes medicine, clothes and tents, and provide health care to the poor in the Sahelian country, one of the world's top producers of uranium.

Oil-exporting Libya is one of the main sources of aid to its neighbour Niger, an arid country on the southern fringe of the Sahara.

One in five children die before their fifth birthday in Niger, and aid agencies fear rising world prices for basic foods like rice could put decent nutrition beyond the reach of millions of people even if the next harvest is good.

The country suffered a humanitarian emergency in 2005 that threatened 3.5 million people with famine after drought and locusts the previous year wiped out crops in many villages.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi advocates solidarity among Africans in the fight against poverty to prevent what he sees as meddling in the continent by Western powers.

(Writing by Lamine Ghanmi; editing by William Maclean and Giles Elgood).
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May 28, 2008 BBC (News report 09:39 GMT 10:39 UK) entitled 'Libya sends relief load to Niger':

Niger is a vast, arid country often stricken by drought

Libya has sent 30 tons of aid to Niger, one of several African countries struggling to cope with the global rise in food prices.

The aid included medical supplies, clothes, shoes and tents, Libya's state news agency Jana reported.

Medical teams and pharmacists are accompanying the aid to provide medical services and distribute relief.

Last month, aid agencies said thousands of people had left their homes in the south-east due to food shortages.

Niger is one of the world's least-developed nations and more than two-thirds of its people live below the poverty line and 82% rely on agriculture, according to the UN.

Child mortality rates are high, with an estimated one in five children dying before their fifth birthday.

A report in April by international aid groups and the government of Niger said 14,000 people had been displaced in the region of Maradi.

Most of them have fled to cities, with others moving across the border to Nigeria.

The population of one village, Pardakoye, has shrunk from 800 people to 24.

More than three million people were affected by a famine in 2005.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7423134.stm