Brown returns to politics with a plea for famine-stricken Niger

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

The Debate: Should brothels be legalised?

While some will hold the sex workers should be respected in their resistance to the upheaval, it is ...

DJ Fresh: I’ve never been so excited about making music

“I wouldn’t say I’m going for my third consecutive number one,” says Dan, “It’s dangerous to become ...

Eurovision and human rights in Azerbaijan

On 26 May 2012, Azerbaijan’s capital city, Baku, will host the Eurovision Song Contest. Few of the i...

Taking away benefits from heroin users won’t solve anything

It was reported today that Ian Duncan Smith is threatening to stop heroin addicts from being able to...

Gordon Brown returns to front-line politics today, making an appeal for Britain to fund food aid to the landlocked African state of Niger where more than half the population face starvation.

In an article for The Independent, the former prime minister expresses frustration that the UK, US and other states have failed to contribute enough money to a United Nations appeal, leaving it $80m (£51m) short of target – and delivering little more than half the food needed.

While dramatic TV footage of the flooding in Pakistan has prompted governments to commit hundreds of millions to the aid effort there, the slowly worsening humanitarian crisis in Niger has been largely ignored by donors and the media. After a drought ruined much of last year's harvest, extending the annual "hunger season" from four to eight months, the rains have now come excessively, sweeping away homes, grain stores and livestock.

One in six children are malnourished. In coming months the UN World Food Programme estimates 7.9 million of Niger's 15.3 million population will require emergency food. Josette Sheeran, its executive director, said: "The drought in Niger is an unfolding catastrophe for millions of people and we are struggling against time to scale up quickly enough to reach the escalating number of hungry."

Since his departure from Downing Street on 11 May – when he admitted learning some "frailties" in government – Mr Brown has kept a low profile. He has devoted himself to his Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency in Fife and to writing a book on the near-collapse of global banking, to be called The Financial Crisis.

Asked before the general election what he wanted to do after his premiership, he indicated he would not take business directorships, but would focus on charity and international development. Earlier this month he was reported to be considering making speeches for $100,000 a time.

Although less well-known than neighbouring Nigeria, Niger is one of the world's largest countries with a landmass five times bigger than the UK. An arid land whose people eke out a living from subsistence farming, it is desperately poor. GDP per capita is the fifth lowest of 227 nations, ahead of Somalia, Liberia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The floods are its worst for 80 years.

The BBC's Mike Thomson, who visited the south-east of the country for a report for the Today programme, found 9,000 people waiting for grain from aid agencies near the town of Maradi. Some of them had been surviving on leaves and near-toxic berries edible after being soaked in water for a week. He was told these were now running out.

Mr Brown, 59, supports the development of irrigation and water schemes to increase cultivable land. There are no easy answers," he writes.

"But, today, where there is suffering without hope, we can prevent children dying painful, avoidable deaths."

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Andreas Whittam Smith: Authenticity is a great asset in a leader. David Cameron lacks it

Andreas Whittam Smith

Authenticity is a great asset in a leader. David Cameron lacks it
Back in the thick of it... Alastair Campbell returns to work as a spin doctor

Back in the thick of it... Alastair Campbell returns to work as a spin doctor

Labour's master of media manipulation is back in the PR business
Supermarkets accused of ripping off shoppers with 'misleading' offers

Supermarkets accused of ripping off shoppers with 'misleading' offers

Which? survey reveals that buying single items can often be cheaper than attractive-looking multipack promotions
The art of industrial espionage

The art of industrial espionage

Corporate investigation may lack the glamour of Bond and Bourne, but the two worlds aren't so far removed...
From fashion to film: Jean Paul Gaultier on his week as a Cannes juror

Jean Paul Gaultier: From fashion to film

The fashion designer discusses his week as a Cannes juror
Therapist who tried to 'cure' me of being gay thrown out – but the system is still broken

Therapist who tried to 'cure' me of being gay thrown out...

... but the system is still broken, says Patrick Strudwick
In a Sudanese field, cluster bomb evidence proves just how deadly this war has become

In a Sudanese field, cluster bomb evidence proves just how deadly this war has become

Aris Roussinos speaks to the villagers demanding UN help
'I don't want it to be boring': Former circus producer reveals plans for Diamond Jubilee river parade

Diamond Jubilee river parade

Former circus producer Adrian Evans reveals his plans for the Thames Pageant
VIP treatment: Life is golden in the Olympic fast lane

VIP treatment: Life is golden in the Olympic fast lane

As the rest of us get used to being also-rans in the race for tickets, a chosen few are preparing to enjoy nothing but the very best of London 2012
Forest guards told to shoot poachers on sight after rash of tiger killings

Forest guards told to shoot poachers on sight after rash of tiger killings

India hits back against hunters who sell body parts to Asia for use in traditional medicines
Mining tycoon beats Wal-Mart heiress to title of richest woman

Mining tycoon beats Wal-Mart heiress to title of richest woman

Industrialist Gina Rinehart earns £32m a day from her Australian iron-ore concerns
Language: The cussing room floor

Language: The cussing room floor

Ken Loach is the latest director to complain about censorship. The rules on swearing are so arbitrary, it's no wonder he's effing and blinding
The 10 best car gadgets

The 10 best car gadgets

From a wide-angle HD camera to a satnav that shows you real-time images of the road ahead...
James Lawton: Gary needs to the find key to Wayne's desolate world

James Lawton: Gary needs to find key to Wayne's desolate world

Has Neville been called in by Roy Hodgson to monitor the mood of his former team-mate?
Jessica Ennis: Olympic hope faces new hurdles

Jessica Ennis: Olympic hope faces new hurdles

Despite her great form Great Britain's heptathlon star tells Simon Turnbull there are many rivals who might 'get it right on the night' in London