The vast majority of Nigeriens rely on subsistence agriculture, and the region’s frequent droughts, low and variable rainfall, and increasingly degraded land lead to poor harvests and regular food and water shortages.

Chronic food insecurity and infectious disease have resulted in some of the highest rates of malnutrition and mortality in the world. As of January 2015, United Nations estimates placed Niger’s food-insecure population at nearly 3.4 million people. Over 50 percent of Nigerien children under 5 years old are chronically undernourished and the country’s 14.8 percent rate of global acute malnutrition exceeds the World Health Organization’s threshold of serious concern of 10 percent.