(Zinder/New York, 27 April 2010): As part of his visit to Niger centred on the response to the food crisis affecting over 58% of the population, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes travelled today to the department of Tanout in the region of Zinder to see the human impact of the emergency at first hand.

Tanout is characterized by extreme poverty, in an economy relying primarily on agriculture and...