The aid on the flight that arrived on Friday 29th and has been driven to Maradi - one of the worst-affected areas. It is expected that distribution will be launched by Thursday 4 August. Click on read more below for further details....

Niger food crisis 02/08/2005 The aid starts to arrive... Last week, a plane carrying over 40 tonnes of nutritional supplies arrived in Niamey and was driven to Maradi - one of the worst-affected areas. It is expected that distribution will be launched by Thursday 4 August, and will be followed by the family ration distribution in the next couple of days. We are recruiting and training a large national staff. The main ‘hunger gap’ will last until mid-September and will see the worst rates of malnutrition. Therefore our strategy is to set up as fast and as large as we can, in order to have maximum impact during the next 5-6 weeks. Food is becoming available in the region and the World Food Programme committed to ship 1,200 metric tons of food to Tessaoua in Maradi last weekend. This represents a full monthly ration for 10,000 families and should cover our needs for the first 2 weeks before more food becomes available in country. UNICEF has also committed to provide food which should be made available in Tessaoua by the end of the week. We are sending two more flights on Friday, carrying life-saving nutritional supplies and equipment. A lethal combination of drought and locusts last year decimated the harvest in Niger and has left the country with an estimated 223,000 tonne shortfall of grain to meet the food needs of the local population. Infant mortality and malnutrition rates have increased sharply as a result. "The clock is ticking for these children. The support of the British Government and British public means we can get this much needed specialist food out to Niger to prevent more vulnerable children falling victim to malnutrition", said Toby Porter, Director of Emergencies, Save the Children UK. Save the Children teams, including nutritionists and logistics staff, are working to provide nutritional assistance to children under five years old in the Maradi region which is facing acute food shortages. Initial estimates of 15,000 moderately and severely malnourished children in the region have been revised upwards to 40,000. >Video from Niger (broadband recommended to view)