NEWS FROM
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
December 14, 2005
For more information contact Emily Sollie at esollie@lwr.org or 410-230-2802.
In this news release:
- Lutheran World Relief Receives Gates Foundation Grant To Fight Hunger In Niger
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF RECEIVES GATES FOUNDATION GRANT TO FIGHT HUNGER IN NIGER
Baltimore, December 14, 2005 — Lutheran World Relief has received a $640,104 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help nomadic communities in Niger avert food crises through new, innovative approaches that help bring vulnerable populations back from the brink of hunger.
The 18-month grant will support a project in the Dakoro region of Niger, working with nomadic pastoralists – communities that depend on livestock as their only livelihood – to help them both improve household nutrition and reduce vulnerability to food shortages.
Nomadic pastoralists are among the most vulnerable populations in the Sahel, the region devastated earlier this year by a severe food crisis. Drought, locust swarms and economic shocks led to suffering not seen in thirty years. The 2004 harvest did not yield sufficient food to see the population through the spring and summer; grasslands reserved for cattle grazing were reduced to dust; and rising food prices put the food that was available out of reach for the most impoverished.
Pastoralists, who depend on their ability to raise, sell, and sustain their animals, are particularly susceptible to these shocks: as water, pasture, and access to feed diminished, they lost many animals to starvation – losing not only the milk and protein that provide the mainstay of their own diets, but also the potential income from selling animals which they could have used to purchase food they could not grow themselves.
With the support of the Gates Foundation grant, LWR will work with a local partner organization to implement an innovative four-pronged, community-based approach to improve pastoralists’ food security. Digging community wells will make them less susceptible to drought in the future and help stabilize traditional livestock management practices. Establishing community feed banks will stabilize the price and availability of animal feed, thereby increasing pastoralists’ net income and making them less vulnerable to economic shocks. Establishing clearly delineated migration routes, agreed upon by both the herders and neighboring farmers, will diminish conflict between these communities. And finally, restocking herds through local women’s associations will both address the immediate need created by the decimation of existing herds, as well as create a sustainable, cooperative method of keeping herds healthy.
“We can’t reverse the problems that caused this year’s crisis,” said LWR president Kathryn Wolford, “but we can make a significant impact by addressing the root causes of vulnerability among pastoralist communities, increasing the peoples’ capacity to care for their families and ultimately reducing their dependence on outside aid.”
LWR has a 30-year history working in Niger, most recently implementing an emergency food distribution program on behalf of the global aid alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) in response to this summer’s acute food crisis. Though the crisis this year garnered a great deal of publicity, Niger’s food shortages are a chronic problem. LWR’s work there addresses immediate needs, while also working with local partner organizations to develop and implement innovative development strategies, such as the pastoralists project supported by the Gates Foundation, that can stave off future food crises.
“Even though the food crisis has faded from the headlines, it still continues and needs our constant attention,” Wolford said after returning from a trip to Niger in September. “It’s clear that we need to focus a great deal of energy and effort to address the natural and manmade forces that, left alone, will only continue the cycle of poverty and the possibility for starvation.”
WHO IS LWR? Lutheran World Relief, an international nonprofit organization, works to end poverty and injustice by empowering some of the world's most impoverished communities to help themselves. With partners in 35 countries, LWR seeks to promote sustainable development with justice and dignity by helping communities bring about change for healthy, safe and secure lives; engage in Fair Trade; promote peace and reconciliation; and respond to emergencies. LWR is headquartered in Baltimore, Md. and has worked in international development and relief since 1945.
Lutheran World Relief is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), individuals and parish groups in international relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility.
