UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (UPI) -- An international effort is needed to avert a disaster from the drought plaguing the African nation of Niger, U.N. humanitarian officials said.
U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told officials there was still time to save Niger from an environmental catastrophe.
He called on donor nations to raise $130 million to make food aid available to the 7.8 million people at risk from drought in Niger.
"You can see literally the deserts advancing, the sand dunes advancing," he said. Agricultural and irrigation advances were needed, he added, to address the drought affecting West Africa.
He praised domestic efforts to address the water crisis but warned that time was running out.
"(I)t's six months at least to the next possibility of a harvest, assuming the rains are good and on time, which is a big assumption, and of course the situation could get much worse in that time, especially if we don't take the right action to deal with it," he said.
