DOHA - Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani yesterday stated the situation in the African state of Niger is serious.
In his opening speech at an international donors conference being held here for consolidating food sufficiency in Niger, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem said the gravity of the situation is largely due to a quarter of the population of about three million suffering from lack of food security and about two-thirds living in poverty.
The meeting, which concludes today at the Sheraton Doha, has been organised by the General Secretariat of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in collaboration with the Qatari government and Niger's Ministry of Foreign affairs, Cooperation and African Integration.
"The conditions Niger is undergoing are very dangerous and are well-known to everyone. Having this dangerous issue, we do not help by standing away while drought and natural disasters are sweeping that country. We should, rather, commit ourselves to our duty in reducing or eliminating the calamities of poverty and hunger in Niger, so as to achieve Islamic consolidation and fulfil our duties," he said.
He added: "We believe that this conference is so specific in terms of the urgency of the poor conditions in Niger and in terms of the subject being addressed, i.e. achieving food security, which becomes an utmost requirement to meet basic humanitarian needs."
On the directives of the Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar has already contributed in supplying relief humanitarian aid and assistance, he said.
Qatar has also taken the initiative to render key assistance for the rehabilitation of water wells in Niger through the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS).
"We believe that this conference, instead of focussing on temporary partial solutions, should focus on the implementation of a strategy that reduces poverty and enhances rural development in Niger, because these represent the referential frames in the field of rural, economic, and social development in Niger," said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem.
The Premier said: "This conference also aims at supporting economic, social and environmental development in Niger - where all basic components for agriculture, irrigation and the young labour force are available."
Niger's Prime Minister, Seyni Oumarou, who was sworn in only last week, said the people of Niger were attaching great hopes to this conference, "which is essential for the future of Niger and for the rest of other least-developed nations affected by the ongoing trend of globalisation and suffering from a slow-pace of economic growth".
"The difficult situation in Niger is coupled by ruthless climatic disorders with either very scarce rainfall leading to acute drought or devastating torrential rains that wreak havoc on agricultural harvests," Oumarou said.
Yet another problem that afflicts the country is locust invasions, which devastate standing crops. "In 2005, locusts inflicted a severe food-deficiency with millions of tonnes of grains or cereals lost," he said.
He hoped that the conference would help in the agricultural development of about 24,000 hectares of its arable lands, to take substantive environmental measures and to urgently procure a reserve food supply of no less than 150,000 tonnes of foodstuff to serve as a strategic food reserve.
© The Peninsula 2007
