MARADI, le 1 septembre (IRIN) - Les experts se félicitent de la politique mise en œuvre par le gouvernement pour faire face aux graves problèmes de santé publique au Niger, mais déplorent le manque de fonds qui empêche les autorités nigériennes de réaliser de réels progrès en matière de soins de santé.

Les problèmes de santé du Niger sont communs à toute l'Afrique de l'Ouest : malaria, tuberculose et diarrhée figurent au premier rang des maladies mortelles. Mais au Niger, ces problèmes

1. Overview of the general agriculture and food situation

Analysis conducted by several institutions (Agrhymet, Fews Net, FAO) indicate that rainfall is returning to normal levels after very poor conditions at the start of the season which delayed sowing and re-sowing in several countries.

The food situation is also generally satisfactory. However there are a few localised pockets of food insecurity

Kenya- Food insecurity still extremely severe in pastoral areas- Highland cropping areas have reported a favourable harvest and prices have fallen in these areas. However, the rainy season has brought only modest improvements in marginal agricultural areas, where the harvest was poor. The situation is also still precarious in most of the pastoral areas, with high prevalence of acute malnutrition recorded in Mandera and Isiolo districts.

Somalia-Food insecurity persists-Somalia has suffered an upsurge in violence for some months, the Islamic Courts

1-1- BURKINA FASO
APROSSA - AFRIQUE VERTE BURKINA
Source : Réseau des animateurs

The remote desert town Bilma in Agadez region, 1,500 km northeast of the capital Niamey has been hardest hit, according to a cabinet statement released on Tuesday. In this town alone, some 3,400 people from 675 families have been driven from their homes or watched them destroyed by flooding, the report said.

In a recent press conference, Niger's Prime Minister Hama Amadou officially stated that food insecurity remains an urgent issue in his country.

According to the National Early Warning System, children and families in 33 areas across Niger are still struggling with the food situation.

- Five areas in Dosso, totaling more than 107, 000 inhabitants, are in a "critical" food situation characterized by a decrease in the daily meals, the consumption of substitution

- The implementation of the agreed plan of actions, within the National Food Security Mechanism (NFSM) to address the situation of the 1.8 million severely food insecure people, is on-going. Targeted free food distributions have been launched on 25 August.

- Food distributions within the

Tillabery was one of the regions hardest hit by the Sahel food crisis in 2004-2005. Hundreds of lives were lost here due to hunger, and lack of access to adequate medical services.

In a truly innovative program to rebuild communities here, Oxfam empowered villagers to decide themselves what should be done, and who should be targeted - forcing the organization to change