It
is a scene from time immemorial. As the sun rises over endless
Sahel scrubland, camels begin undulating over the horizon. A
trickle becomes a steady stream– of lean, blue-robed Touareg
people, sabres at their sides, of Hausa people astride their
mules, of steely-eyed Peul steering herds of goats and zebu
from under elaborate conical hats, and of brightly-clad women
balancing wares atop their heads.
Yet today’s market day in Tanout – a small town
in Zinder Province, in central Niger – could be different.
It will be a test of a new Red Cross project that aims to restore
some resilience to hard-hit family economies.
Tanout, with its fistful of red mud houses, is an arduous two-day
drive from the capital, Niamey, in one of the poorest regions
in one of the poorest countries in the world.
Tanout is also a meeting ground between agriculturalist villagers
and the nomadic animal herders. The two groups have one thing
in common – their total and precarious dependence on the
yearly yield of crops and pasture.
The past year has been a bad one. Locusts coupled with a drought
have brought a harvest of next to nothing. Even if there has
not been outright famine, the sharply outlined faces at the
market tell a story of hunger and deprivation.
“We share what is left, even if it is not enough, so that
we do not incur debts,” explains village head Mamadou
Tarno in Anekas village, to nods of agreement from others gathered
around.
People here are used to managing with little. Most villages
lack even the basics in health care, education and sanitation,
let alone ready access to water. It is clear that this year
has brought them ever closer to the brink. Family food stocks
in the most affected areas were all but depleted by July.
Cereal prices sky-rocketed and cash reserves were drained. To
cope, communities resorted to foraging for wild plants as the
main source of food. They sold off basic household goods and
depleted their valuable livestock simply to survive.
The Red Cross, in one of its largest operations, provided food
aid for 500,000 hungry people in Niger, Mali, Mauritania and
Burkina Faso before the harvest. In Niger, most of the acute
hunger has been dealt with, but there are still pockets of food
insecurity, and the Red Cross is continuing to give supplementary
food to malnourished children.
In parallel, the Red Cross is now turning its attention to how
people will cope in the future.
In Tanout, which remains at risk of hunger, more than 30 young
volunteers from the local branch of the Niger Red Cross, along
with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies, and with support from the British, Swedish and Swiss
Red Cross Societies, have been distributing cash. Volunteers
traveled the countryside, registering families with global positioning
systems (GPS), in spite of the rigors of fasting during the
holy month of Ramadan.
Red Cross volunteers gave CFA francs 120,000 (about US $ 240
or € 183) to women in more than 5,700 households in 87
villages and three nomadic settlements severely affected by
the food crisis. The amount is the subsistence rate needed to
feed a family of seven for 40 days. In total, 34,000 people
should benefit.
The cash aims to help the worst-off families cover their immediate
needs and to put their households on a more secure footing for
the future. The Red Cross hopes that this one-off injection
of cash will prevent people from sinking ever deeper into a
cycle of need - selling their crops or livestock at low prices
to repay debts, only to have to buy again later in the year
to survive – when need is greatest and prices have risen
to their highest levels.
To give the cash distribution a chance of success, Niger Ministry
of Community Development officials ran education sessions beforehand
advising people to buy food, livestock and agricultural tools
that restore their ability to support themselves.
This Saturday market in Tanout is the first since the cash distribution.
The harvest – which is moderately good this year –
has just started to come in and the mood is festive.
Over the past few weeks, trade was restrained, even though food
was available. A trickle of coins exchanging hands, perhaps
a crumpled and sweaty CFA1000 note quickly tucked away deep
inside a threadbare robe.
Today is different. The crisp new CFA notes are easy to spot
and barter is brisk. People are smiling.
Amina Laouali, from the village of Batthe, is happy.
“I am delighted and I thank God. This will be a big change
for us because in the past we suffered a lot. I will divide
the money in three. One third will go to my children, another
third to buy millet, and the final third for livestock.”
Volunteers report that in some communities people have already
decided to pool some of their money to build a well, or buy
communal livestock and carts.
That is good news, says El Moctar Yacouba Sido, the Niger Red
Cross Society’s Tanout branch coordinator.
“Of course there are many questions on the impact of this
project. It is a first. Just like a dish that one cooks for
the first time – one never knows the taste that it will
have. What we do know however is that the dish is welcome. People
are very happy to see the Red Cross arriving.”
The Red Cross has been watching the effects of the cash injection
to make sure it is not causing inflation – thereby putting
the basics of life out of reach.
Market authorities say turn-over is up 40 per cent on pre-distribution
activity. Most prices are stable, but the price of millet, sorghum
and niebe beans have risen. Still, higher prices means farmers
selling those crops make more money.
A bank manager in Zinder reported a 30 per cent increase in
turnover, as people made deposits or repaid debts, a healthy
sign.
If the end of market day activity is anything to go by, the
signs are good. Donkeys are sagging under the weight of sacks
of grain, goats bleat from atop the tightly-packed roof-racks
of mini-buses. Laden carts heave home. Life here has not changed
much over the centuries. Today may have simply brought a little
more choice.
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It
is a scene from time immemorial. As the sun rises over
endless Sahel scrubland, camels begin undulating over
the horizon.(p13584)
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A
trickle becomes a steady stream– of lean, blue-robed
Touareg people, sabres at their sides, of Hausa people
astride their mules, of steely-eyed Peul steering herds
of goats and zebu from under elaborate conical hats.(p13583)
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This
Saturday market in Tanout is the first since the cash
distribution. The harvest – which is moderately
good this year – has just started to come in and
the mood is festive. (p13585)
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In
Tanout, which remains at risk of hunger, more than 30
young volunteers from the local branch of the Niger Red
Cross, along with the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and with support from
the British, Swedish and Swiss Red Cross Societies, have
been distributing cash. (p13588)
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Red
Cross volunteers gave CFA francs 120,000 (about US $ 240
or € 183) to women in more than 5,700 households
in 87 villages and three nomadic settlements severely
affected by the food crisis.(p13587)
Two men on mat filling in form with the Head of the village
of 'Wailope', talking to NRC volunteer and Tanout Branch
Logistics Officer 'Moussa'.(p13586)
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News
