Niger Assistance Overview, November 2023 – Niger

CONTEXT

• An estimated 4.3 million people in Niger, or approximately 17 percent of the country’s population, require humanitarian assistance in 2023 due to chronic food insecurity, protracted conflict, and climatic shocks such as drought and seasonal floods, according to the UN.

• Armed group violence in the Lake Chad Basin— which comprises areas of Niger’s Diffa Region and bordering areas of Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria— has led to widespread displacement and disruption of livelihoods and markets in Diffa since 2017. Separately, insecurity in the Liptako-Gourma Region—also referred to as the tri-border area encompassing the contiguous areas of northern Burkina Faso, southern and central Mali, and southwestern Niger—since 2018 has exacerbated the humanitarian needs of populations in the region.

• Food insecurity remains widespread in Niger, particularly in areas affected by armed group activity where violence and resultant displacement restrict agricultural production and access to markets. As a result, nearly 3.3 million people across Niger likely faced Crisis—Phase 3—or worse levels of acute food insecurity during the June-to-August lean season, the period when food is most scarce, according to a March Cadre Harmonisé analysis.Deteriorating economic conditions have compounded acute food insecurity for many households countrywide.
Specifically, economic sanctions following the July 26 coup d’état, including by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union, have contributed to price increases for staple foods across the country and disrupted the humanitarian supply chain, leading to delayed deliveries of humanitarian assistance, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Border closures with ECOWAS countries after the coup d’état, which remained in effect as of October, have caused further food and commodity scarcities, the UN World Food Program (WFP) reports.

• More than 335,000 people in Niger remained internally displaced—primarily due to persistent conflict and insecurity—as of September, including 20,000 people displaced since July, according to UNHCR. Additionally, the country hosted more than 325,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, predominantly from Mali and Nigeria, as of September, the UN agency estimates.

• Flooding during the June-to-September rainy season adversely affected nearly 170,000 people, including more than 67,000 people in the Maradi Region, disrupting livelihoods and contributing to worsening acute food insecurity, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).