One day when I have the time to look back at my life, the trip through the red sands of Maradi , Niger, will be among those I will remember. It is hot, the rainy season has not started yet , and the danger of hunger is already tangible.  3 million people live in Maradi, and more than half of them are at risk of malnutrition.  Without help, this risk will increase between now and November, when the lean season ends (provided there is more rain  than last year so that November will bring in a good harvest). We are here to get a sense of the severity of the current food crisis and the effectiveness of the measures we have taken so far.  And we do it in the best possible way – by talking to as many people as we can from all walks of life – the governor, villagers, mothers in a hospital, humanitarian workers.  

My first stop is a hospital for malnourished children in the village of Guidam Roumdji. One of the first intensive care patients we see is Laoure, the 17 days old daughter of Nassiroi Yahaya, a young mother of two. Visiting someone in a hospital is always difficult, but when the patient is such a young child, it is really heartbreaking. Laoure suffers from diarrhea and poor digestion, and was in a terrible condition  when her mother brought her to the hospital. Giving Laoure the chance to live and grow up to be healthy is the result of the joint effort of different actors. The Commission funds the project; the hospital is run by one of our oldest partners Médecins Sans Frontières; the World Food Program supplies the food, and UNICEF and the World Health Organization provide their expertise to improve the treatments.

Nassiroi and Laoure share the hospital room with dozens of other women and their malnourished children. The current food crisis has doubled the number of mothers seeking treatment for their kids in centers like this, but this time we were better prepared than in 2005. Laoure and the other babies are looked after and the success rate of their treatment reaches 90%. The hospital rooms are full, but the morgue of the center is not. And when the mothers and children leave the centre and return home they receive therapeutic rations, so that the boys and girls continue to be well fed. 

Another example of fruitful cooperation is the second project I visit in the afternoon. We travel through the sands to the traditional Nigerien village of Zoumbita, with its houses made of straw and clay. Here the objective is not to treat malnutrition, but to prevent it. Until the end of the lean season the 40 most vulnerable households in the village receive a supplement in form of cash(around €30 per month), to buy food at the local market. The project is funded by Europe, run by the NGO “Save the Children” and the selection of the families is done in cooperation with the village authorities. The beneficiaries are women like Maideka, a mother of five. Her kids are asleep – with full bellies – when we go to her house. Like the other women receiving cash from our program, Maideka proudly holds out the piece of paper she puts her fingerprint on every month when she receives her 30 Euros.

There are many success stories like this, that show that by working together we can make a difference. Laoure and Maideka are benefiting from it, but we still need to do more. In times of economic crisis and a growing number of catastrophes, good coordination among different humanitarian actors is not only desirable; it is indispensible. It is indeed the best –and the cheapest- way to respect the commitment the world leaders have taken to end hunger.

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Tags: Niger, Save the Children, UNICEF, World Food Program, World Health Organization