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Persistent price increases make it difficult for poor households to access food
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Food prices continue to rise as a result of market disruptions due to weather conditions, insecurity and socio-political factors. Poor households in Tillabery and Taua regions not only struggle with depleted grain reserves, but also face poor incomes due to limited opportunities to sell their labor. As a result, these households are forced to rely on passive coping strategies. Households in Diffa and Maradi areas are moving into stress while they are experiencing the food security consequences of Crisis (IPC Phase 3). (IPC Phase 2!) Thanks to food aid being distributed monthly to the majority of eligible people.
With the announcement of Niger's withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), motivated by economic and financial sanctions, the socio-political situation is undergoing major changes. This decision sets a new direction for negotiations between Niger and ECOWAS, as evidenced by the lifting of sanctions that had been in place for seven months at the Extraordinary Summit of ECOWAS Leaders held in Abuja on February 24, 2024. It is something to give. Nevertheless, the impact of sanctions on inflation, particularly regarding food items, is expected to continue to impact the domestic economy and poor households' access to food in the coming months.
Food markets are fed by internal distribution and long-cycle imports, which influence food prices. This change is also observed in livestock markets, with export routes to other countries increasingly passing through the Burkina Faso corridor. Even if trade sanctions are lifted and borders reopen, the lasting impact of these alternative trade routes will continue to drive up transaction costs and consumer prices for food, which have soared to unprecedented levels over the past five years. will do.
Food aid programs, whose implementation slowed in the months following the military coup, have resumed in the regions of Diffa and Maradi. This is because sanctions exempt humanitarian operations, particularly funding for food procurement and food insecurity response programs by humanitarian organizations. These make it possible to provide food aid that covers at least 60 percent of the food needs of the target population. In these areas, humanitarian organizations have access to food stocks and finance, and the security situation facilitates humanitarian access to interventions that benefit targeted populations.
