NIGER: DROUGHT Pastoralists in Niger decry loss of thousands of livestock due to drought.
Record ID:
236856
NIGER: DROUGHT Pastoralists in Niger decry loss of thousands of livestock due to drought.
- Title: NIGER: DROUGHT Pastoralists in Niger decry loss of thousands of livestock due to drought.
- Date: 25th August 2014
- Summary: AGADEZ, NORTHERN NIGER (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CARCASSES OF DEAD ANIMALS VARIOUS OF KABOSSA AMANTCHO, PASTORALIST WITH HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN VARIOUS OF AMANTCHO POURING AND DRINKING TEA VARIOUS OF AMANTCHO AND HIS REMAINING SHEEP (SOUNDBITE) (Tamacheck) KABOSSA AMANTCHO, PASTORALIST SAYING: "Everyone has been affected by this. I cannot quantify our loss, but this village used to be full of livestock before. Even the camels are dead." VARIOUS OF LIVESTOCK MARKET IN AGADEZ VARIOUS OF EMACIATED ANIMALS AT THE MALL VARIOUS OF AMANTCHO AT THE MARKET TRADER COUNTING MONEY (SOUNDBITE) (Tamacheck) KABOSSA AMANTCHO, PASTORALIST SAYING: "Everything I make here goes towards my family. This is my life now; this what I do because I have nothing else. Sometimes I make money, sometimes I don't." VARIOUS OF EMACIATED CAMEL AND COW (SOUNDBITE) (Haussa) TAMBARI TCHOLI, TRADER SAYING: "You will find that many people here who used to have hundreds of animals only have a dozen remaining. Many of them have large families and they are all suffering and are in a critical situation, which will further plunge them into poverty." EXTERIOR OF OFFICE OF PASTORALIST DEVELOPMENT VARIOUS OF FODE CAMARA, DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL DEVELOPMENT, NIGER'S MINISTRY OF LIVESTOCK, WALKING INTO HIS OFFICE CAMARA'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FODE CAMARA, DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL DEVELOPMENT, NIGER' S MINISTRY OF LIVESTOCK SAYING: "We conducted a quick evaluation, and indeed our findings were quite sad. There are my emaciated animals, many of them cannot even stand. For every herd, some of the pastoralist could count at least seven animals that died every morning. So we found many animals when we went to the field." VARIOUS OF SHEEP
- Embargoed: 9th September 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Niger
- Country: Niger
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVABWOZQD2KRT7K65IMW5K1SCFTB
- Story Text: Thousands of livestock have perished in northern Niger, following a severe drought that has killed 60 to 70 percent of the livestock in the Agadez region, according to the Niger Ministry of livestock.
The poor West Africa nation perched on the edge of the Sahara suffers frequently from droughts and often relies on international donors for food and livestock aid.
Experts say weather patterns in the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara desert, will become even more erratic due to regular droughts as a result of climate change.
About 80 percent of uranium-rich Niger's 16 million people, depend on agro-pastoral farming for their livelihood.
In pastoral areas in Niger, where many depend on livestock for income to access food, the drought has dealt a severe blow to many families.
For fifty-year-old father of six, Kabosso Amnatcho, this year's drought has been particularly severe.
Out of a herd of 25 sheep and 14 goats, only 3 sheep and 2 goats remain.
"Everyone has been affected by this. I cannot quantify our loss, but this village used to be full of livestock before. Even the camels are dead," he said.
With the loss of his livelihood, Amantcho has been working as a trader at the local livestock market, but he says that he barely makes enough to make ends meet.
"Everything I make here goes towards my family. This is my life now; this what I do because I have nothing else. Sometimes I make money, sometimes I don't," Amantcho added.
Recurrent shortages in recent years have forced pastoralists to sell livestock, including valuable young females normally kept for breeding, reducing their resistance to food shocks.
But with many emaciated animals due to drought, traders are struggling to make sales, and are forced to sell their weakened livestock at a fraction of its normal value.
"You will find that many people here who used to have hundreds of animals only have a dozen remaining. Many of them have large families and they are all suffering and are in a critical situation, which will further plunge them into poverty," said one trader Tambari Tcholi.
Analysts say that the large loss of livestock may force pastoralists to change their way of life with some families migrating to find work in towns or cities.
The Niger government confirms the situation on the ground is severe, and needs more than 34 million U.S. dollars to help pastoralists restock their livestock, but only has about 603,000 dollars.
"We conducted a quick evaluation, and indeed our findings were quite sad. There are my emaciated animals, many of them cannot even stand. For every herd, some of the pastoralist could count at least seven animals that died every morning. So we found many animals when we went to the field," said Fode Camara, Director of Pastoral Development, Niger' s Ministry of Livestock.
In 2011, the landlocked desert nation was struck by a famine that afflicted nearly 6 million people - roughly one-third of its population - as a drought coincided with a return of emigrants from conflict-stricken Libya and Ivory Coast. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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