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Continent of Gigantic ProblemsThat’s what Haoua Lankoande, a manager with the humanitarian agency CARE wrote ina recent blog post from the Niger capital, Niamey.The first phase of hunger drives villagers into the city; the second phase brings knocks onthe door, Lankoande wrote.“Do you have any food?” they ask. “I haven’t eaten in three days.”Eventually in phase three, Lankoande said, people don’t ask anymore.“You wake up and go outside in the morning, and there is a family sleeping on your doorstep.They don’t ask for anything, they just look up at you, hoping”CARE and other aid agencies fear Niger is already in the first stage of crisis. It doesn’ttake long, they say, for the situation to deteriorate from phase one to three.“What we are seeing is a tip of the iceberg,” said Cassandra Nelson, spokeswoman for MercyCorps. Nearly half of Niger does not have enough to eat. The 5.4 million people strugglingto stay alive are part of a wider crisis affecting at least 10 million people across the swathacross Africa that borders the Sahara, known as the Sahel.This is the third time in the last decade the people of the Sahel have faced severe foodshortages.The problem, caused by drought and high food prices, is exacerbated by an ongoing conflictin Mali between the military and Tuareg rebels that has forced people to flee intoneighboring nations.Niger, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania are all facing hunger. All five governmentshave declared states of emergency.In Niger, people depend on crops and livestock for survival. They are used to living life onthe edge. Every year, life is a gamble.In the dry months, they prepare for what is known as the “lean season.” They eat oncea day or maybe even once every 36 hours.Typically, said Nelson of Mercy Corps, the lean season begins in May. This year, it hasalready arrived. Premature and deadly.This week, a United Nations delegation arrived in Niger to size up the horrific situation.“We know what is coming, and we know what to do to save lives,” said Valerie Amos, theU.N. emergency relief coordinator. “While we cannot stop this crisis from taking place, weare taking steps to avert a catastrophe.”Amos said international aid agencies have called for about $725 million to respond to thecrisis. Donors so far have provided $135 million.“But we need more resources now to prevent a large-scale crisis,” she said.In the hard-hit Filengue region, the images are stark. A woman with skin as black as herdress is white surrounded by shades of parched earth. Around her, rows of millet andsorghum that no amount of water could save now. The rains came late and locusts andcrickets damaged crops. The next harvest isn’t until October. People grow more desperateby the day, Nelson said.91