Slideshow: Niger’s double disaster
BBC
27 August 2010 An existing, long-term food crisis in the landlocked west African country, has now been compounded by devastating floods – which saw the River Niger rise to its highest level for more than 80 years. The UK aid agency, Oxfam, says half the population – nearly eight million people – were already facing hunger because of failed harvests. Now, heavy rains earlier in August and the resulting floods have left more than 100,000 people homeless, according to the United Nations. Reporter Mike Thomson, from BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, has travelled to Niger – to meet farmers struggling in the floodwaters, and the health teams trying to keep the hungry alive. Photography and audio by Mike Thomson and Ed Prendeville. Slideshow production by Paul Kerley. Publication date 27 August 2010.
