AU gives $1m for Niger food aid

2005-07-25 14:08

Nairobi - The African Union (AU) has provided $1m in emergency aid to the famine-stricken West African state of Niger, the pan-African body said in a statement received on Monday.

"The commission approved an emergency relief assistance of $1m to be directly disbursed to the government of the republic of Niger," the AU commission said in the statement.

The AU also warned that the famine, currently threatening at least one-quarter of Niger's 12 million people, would worsen if rapid action was not taken.

The pan-African body called on the international community to "provide support to the government of Niger to enable it to avoid immense human suffering".

Niger's current hunger crisis was caused by drought accompanied by last year's invasion of desert locusts which reduced cereal production by more than 200 000 tons.

- AFP