Niger’s People ‘Look Well Fed’ Claims President

NIGER’S president played down the food crisis ravaging his desert nation, saying people in the impoverished West African country “look well- fed.”

In an interview with the BBC, President Mamadou Tandja acknowledged that a devastating locust invasion last year and poor rains had produced food shortages, but he said that was not unusual for his country. “The people of Niger look well-fed, as you cansee,” he said.

Tandja said the reports of famine were “false propaganda” that had been used by the United Nations, aid agencies and opposition parties for political and economic gain.