Niger
Niger
The Leading Causes of Poverty in Niger
The largest country of West Africa, Niger, is currently suffering from political, economic, and environmental instability that has followed through with Niger’s independence in 1960. For this reason, Niger ranks among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with a population of 23.31 million (as recorded by the World Bank in 2019). The government of Niger has made efforts to modernize and strengthen its economy by extracting gold, oil, and uranium, but the strength of the economy still depends upon agriculture. However, Niger being landlocked makes it a significant economic disadvantage as they lack access to the open sea and are faced with extravagant transit charges.
The culture of Niger religiously follows the hereditary system of land distribution, which only divides the land further when passed from one generation to the next. This system fails to sustain the number of increasing mouths to feed. The need for an educational reform in the country has become over evident in recent years to eliminate the hereditary system that contributes too much to poverty. Moreover, the lack of awareness accounts for high fertility rates without birth controls that result in overpopulation and unfair distribution of resources.
Barely one-third of the Nigerien adults are literate, which often translates into children in the family also lacking educational opportunities. The situation is further fuelled by the responsibility to work on the land to avoid starvation and poor access to schooling, which could otherwise improve their living conditions. This activity pertains to date, despite slavery being banned in 2003. Moreover, only 10 per cent of the residents are online, making Niger an evident name of the third world country list.
Lastly, the unpredictable climate and natural disasters have made the lives of inhabitants in rural areas worse, as it causes widespread malnutrition and starvation, putting the population at risk of different forms of illnesses. In the light of the coronavirus pandemic, Niger has reported 5,919 confirmed cases and 199 deaths. The lack of infrastructure and poor healthcare services in Niger put the population at risk yet again.
How Can You Help the Inhabitants of Niger?
Despite Liberia being rich with mineral wealth, the country fails to utilize the minerals to bring in legitimate funding due to corruption in the government. Moreover, the loss of thousands of lives during wars has limited the opportunities for children who were once forced to fight to return to normal civilian life — this has increased the chances of a life of poverty and turned the scale up for crimes. About 1.3 million Liberians live in extreme poverty in urban and rural areas, paired with food insecurity affecting 41 per cent of the total population. This, in turn, has accounted for Liberia having the highest infant mortality rate in the world. The limited infrastructure and high unemployment rate make it tiring for Liberia to classify as a developing country. What’s making the year worse for Liberians is that there have been 5,727 confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease in 2019, with 245 deaths as of September 2021. Fortunately, the World Bank approved a $3.75 million grant and $3.75 million International Development Association Credit to help Liberia respond to the outbreak of COVID-19. Although this may shorten the time to recovery, Liberia needs help coping with the economic impacts of wars and pandemics.
How Can You Help the Inhabitants of Niger?
It’s your turn to play your part in saving humanity. Contribute to My Bridge International UK, an organization that consistently supplies food and clean water to the people in need in Niger to provide hunger relief. We’re also determined to build schools in urban and rural areas to support educational projects that rightfully save the children. But most importantly, we’re ensuring access to basic medical care for the residents of Niger with pandemic relief funds.
You, too, can join hands with My Bridge International UK to help fight poverty that can drastically improve the living standard of the people in Niger. For more information on where your donations will go, email info@mybridgeinternational.org.