7月18日，联合国粮食及农业组织呼吁国际社会向尼日尔250万饥饿人口提供紧急援助。粮农组织今年5月曾呼吁国际社会向尼日尔提供400万美元紧急援助，但迄今只收到65万美元。外电报道如下：The costs of saving millions of people starving in Niger are rocketing because rich nations ignored calls for early intervention to avert the ravages of last year's drought, relief workers said on Wednesday.

Increasingly desperate appeals from aid agencies and the government have encouraged donors to come forward with funds in the past few weeks, but only after large numbers of children began dying of diseases brought on by hunger.

"The funding needs are sky-rocketing because it's a matter of saving lives," said Gian Carlo Cirri, the U.N. World Food Program's (WFP) representative in Niger's capital Niamey.

Drought表示“旱灾；干旱季节，长期缺乏或不足”，相关的词组有：drought-enduring（耐旱的）；drought-resistant（抗旱的）；combat drought（抗旱）；partial drought（小旱）等。

据悉，尼日尔近年遭受严重干旱和蝗虫灾害侵袭，农业生产遭到毁灭性打击，全国大部分地区陷入粮荒，共有250万人口处在经常性饥饿中，其中80万儿童严重营养不良。