Increasing the Resilience of the Food Systems
In Islamic States in Face of Future Food Crises
94
The U.S. government, the government of Niger,the EU, and theWorldBankare allworking towards
amore concerted approach tobothhumanitarianand developmentassistancein Niger.Emergency
actors arewell coordinatedby the Office for the Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs (OCHA) and
the Cellule de Coordination, which houses the DNPGCCA out of the Prime Minister’s office .393
Lessons Learned
Area Lessons and examples for the OIC to
draw upon
Where experience differs from the
OIC
Government
Policy and
Structure
The government of Niger has set up a
dedicated food security unit that runs in
parallel to other departments.
The OIC would likely differ on the
need, with closer collaboration that
may exist between food-related
agencies.
Monitoring The Early Warning System and
Emergency Response to Vulnerability
are important contributions towards
prevention and management of food
security crises and other disasters.
Differing approaches and priorities
may exist across the OIC; hence, a
more standardized approach would
need to be developed.
Mitigation Despite efforts to boost crop yields, the
government has largely been reactive
and heavily reliant on international
support, such as that provided by USAID.
Other OIC countries, especially
those more economically advanced,
are likely to have established more
robust mitigation mechanisms.
Adaptation Long-term strategies exist for the
government to provide safety nets for its
population, with the World Bank also
providing assistance.
More developed OIC countries are
more likely to have established
better internal mechanisms for
adaptation. There is a need,
however, for a better link with
Zakat collection and distribution.
Building
Resilience
Fertilizer and seed sector reforms are
the top priority, because they will
significantly improve availability of key
inputs for most Nigerien farmers. The
reforms are intended to improve the
regulatory capabilities of the GoN and
enable the private sector to satisfy
market demands.
R&D funding is similarly key to the
OIC, a pan-OIC level initiative to
fund technology research and
adoption is needed.
Cooperation USAID and OIC have signed an MOU in
order to join their humanitarian and
development assistance together.
Niger benefits substantially from trade
with intra-OIC countries in the west
African sub-region and could enhance an
OIC free trade area.
The quick operationalization of this
agreement into project activities in
Niger is not yet materialized.
Only OIC neighboring member
countries have leveraged their
position to trade with Niger in a
significant manner.
393 Ibid.