An international Islamic donors conference held on June 13 raised $369-million to help combat desertification and dwindling agricultural output in Niger. The conference, organised by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and hosted by Qatar, also pledged to open an office in Niger to manage the funds and ensure they are used for relief projects over the next five years.
"This amount will finally help the government of Niger to meet its food crises and to work on sustainable and long term solutions to achieve food self-sufficiency," OIC Assistant Secretary-General Atta El-Manan Bakhit said in Doha.
A quarter of the population lacks sufficient food and more than half are considered impoverished in Niger, located in Africa's dry Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert, the OIC said.
"In 25 years... Niger will be covered by desert. Unless we do something now to stop desertification, an estimated three million people will be risking their lives in the next few years," Bakhit said.
Niger's Foreign Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou said the funding would help the country "restore its dignity."
IOL
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June 14, 2007
Niger agriculture gets $370 million Islamic Conference boost
Categories desertification, development, Niger, productivity
