Joël, age 20, digs "crescent moons" like those below in exchange for food rations for his family. "Crescent moons" are dug perpendicular to the slope of a field so that they can catch and hold any rainwater that falls.  In this way, they add much-needed moisture to the soil and improve future crop productivity. Tanlimba receives free food rations.

After two years of very poor harvests, people in many parts of Niger are struggling to get enough food to survive. Outside of Niamey, Niger’s capital, food is being distributed by the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) to people who lost the majority of their crops after the rains stopped early and grain never developed on the heads of the millet crop they had planted.

One of those receiving aid is Joël, 20. His family, like many in the area, relies on farming for their livelihood. Their harvest was so poor they only got enough food to last the family—which includes Joel’s parents and seven siblings—for just over three months. But now that food is gone.

“We have already sold three of our five goats to buy food,” he says.

In addition to selling their livestock, the family is also coping by stretching out their existing food supply by eating less.

“Sometimes it is not enough,” he says.

Today, however, Joël is receiving 100 kilograms of millet for his family from a Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB)-supported food-for-work project carried out by CRWRC. Through the project, Joël has been working in the hot sun to improve the fertility of local fields to earn the grain for his family.

According to CFGB Executive Director, Jim Cornelius, who is visiting CFGB-supported projects in Niger, the project provides food desperately needed now—and aims to improve conditions in the future.

“Poor soil fertility and environmental degradation make it even more difficult for people to eke out a living here,” he says. “These work projects will improve the soil and help communities become more resilient.”

For Joël , this means digging ‘crescent moons’—a technique used in many parts of Niger to add moisture to the soil. These semi-circle holes are dug perpendicular to the slope of the field so they can catch and hold any rainwater that falls. Trees and other plants can then be planted in the curve.

Along with improving the soil, the project also prevents additional harm to the environment by giving people an alternative to cutting down trees to sell firewood—a particularly harmful and prevalent practice in the region.

Food is also being distributed to people in the community who were not able to work. These are people like Tanlimba, an older woman who can no longer work in the fields.

“This year has been really difficult,” she says. “People have been hungry.”

Tanlimba needs the food because her brother and nephews, who she normally relies on for food, didn’t even bother cutting their crop from the field—there was nothing on the stalks worth harvesting.

“Life has completely changed. This year is terrible. I’ve never seen dryness like this year,” she says. “If we didn’t receive this food we would be in trouble. We have nothing left. I don’t even have one chicken.”

For Joël and his family, the millet they received should last them a month.

“It’s really hard work,” Joël says. “But I don’t have any money to buy food. I pray that the coming year will be better.”

Through its alliance with the CFGB, CRWRC is providing six months of food assistance to 28,434 Nigeriens like Joël and Tanlimba, who are facing severe food shortages this year.  In addition to food-for-work projects, CRWRC is selling grain to families at a subsidized price. Those who have been identified by CRWRC’s long-term partners as unable to participate in either food-for-work projects or purchasing subsidized grain, are receiving free food rations.

~ article and photos by Emily Cain, Canadian Foodgrains Bank

Emily is in Niger visiting and reporting on CFGB-supported projects. This article originally appeared at www.foodgrainsbank.ca and has been adapted with permission.