Niger Faces Food Shortages

Poor harvests caused by prolonged drought and desertification plague Niger

Grain production in West Africa’s largest country fell by 27 percent last year, Agriculture Minister Oua Seydou has told parliament.

Disaster Calendar 2011 – December 25

[December 25, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,543 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Republic of Niger. Grain production in West Africa’s largest country fell by 27 percent last year, Agriculture Minister Oua Seydou has told parliament, leaving the people in 6,981 villages, or 58 percent of the country, with the prospect of food shortages.
• The harvest was down to 3.8 million tons, also a shortfall of 11 percent compared with the five-year average, the Minister said.
• Allowing for wastage and seed grain for next season, an estimated 3,239,825 tons would be left for consumption, compared with 3,759,464 tons needed, a shortfall of 14 percent, he added.

Other Global Disasters

• Cuba. A boat carrying Haitian migrants sank close to the eastern coast of Cuba, leaving at least 38 people dead.
• Indonesia. Continued activity at Mt Gamalama including several eruptions since December 4, has left about 2,400 people displaced, the Ternate City Disaster Management Agency.

• Philippines. At least 1,100 people are now confirmed dead and  with 1,079 others reported missing following the devastation caused by Typhoon WASHI in the Philippines, officials said.

• Lakes State, South Sudan.  At least 250 people have been killed and more than 320 others injured in South Sudan cattle raids since January 2011, the parliament of Lakes state was told.
• “In two counties alone nearly 17,000 cattle were stolen this year commissioners told a special inquiry into the practice in Rumbek, the capital of South Sudan’s central state,” a UN report said.
• Sahel Region, West and Central Africa. More than one million children in 8 countries across the Sahel belt in West and Central Africa face severe malnourishment in 2012.
• Poor harvests caused by drought, loss of top soil, sandstorms and desertification could mean food shortages occurring as early March next year.
• Melbourne, Australia. Mini-tornadoes spawned by  severe thunderstorms that pummeled many parts of Melbourne causing widespread damage across the city, reports said.
• Hailstones measuring about 4 ins (10 cm) in diameter have pelted suburbs of the city.
• Parts of Melbourne also face the threat of flash-flooding, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said.
• “The bureau has forecast very dangerous thunderstorms around Melbourne Airport and surrounding suburbs with severe thunderstorms in other parts of the city being accompanied by destructive winds, very heavy rainfall and hail, and flash flooding,” said the report.
• “Hailstones the size of cricket balls, flash-flooding, planes diverted and flights postponed, power lost from homes, major transport delays and a tornado to top things off – that was Christmas Day in Melbourne.”

Global Disaster Links

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities  (EDRO Forecast)
• 2011 Much More Disastrous: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Global Disasters in 2011 Could Impact 1/3 to 1/2 of the Human Population  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)

• 2010 Disasters [Includes Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters: 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010
• 2011 Disaster Calendar