Niamey - Niger said on Tuesday it would sell cereals at below-market prices to help fight hunger threatening millions of people because of poor harvests due to drought and last year's locust invasion.
Landlocked and largely arid Niger is one of the world's poorest countries. The government says more than three million people in 3 000 villages are facing food shortages because of poor crops in 2004/05.
Trade Minister Habi Mahamadou Salissou said the West African nation's government would sell 67 000 tons of cereals from its stocks in an operation running until August.
It will sell 100kg sacks of millet for 10 000 CFA francs (about R160), compared to between 15 000 and 17 000 CFA francs in the markets. Sorghum and maize will also be sold.
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That price contrasts with a recent deal in which France sold wheat to Egypt at less than $130 (about R800) a ton, which would be equivalent to about $13 per 100kg, though transport would add to costs in Niger's hinterland.
Yields in Niger were hit by drought and locusts which ravaged more than 200 000 hectares last year and the government estimates a deficit of 223 000 tons in its 2004/05 harvest.
Locusts munched their way across the semi-desert Sahel region south of the Sahara last year, in the most serious infestation in 15 years. They caused the worst damage in Mauritania, Niger and Mali.
Salissou said the government aimed to fight inflation and eradicate or reduce the effects of food shortages for Niger's 12 million people. He said the government intended to build up its stocks in cereal banks.
In November, Niger appealed to the international community to help spare its people from the "pangs of food insecurity".
It has also announced a shortfall in fodder of more than 4,6 million tonnes, which could threaten the survival of 3,5 million cattle.
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