Wüstenschiff

More than half of schoolchildren have quit class in some parts of Niger due to drought which is forcing entire families of farmers to move to seek better pastures, the UN said.

Some 33,000 farmers' children have abandoned class to follow their parents, with the worst hit areas including the central regions of Maradi and Zinder, Agadez in the north and Tahoua in the west.


In January the government said there had been a "feed deficit" of over 12 million tonnes for 2016, meaning there was simply not enough feed for the country's 40 million livestock animals.