Washington, 18 July. - (AQNA) - A few years ago, Dijé Issa, a 30-year old woman living in Chagnassou, a village in Niger’s Illela locality, was faced with impossible odds as she tried to take care of her four children. She did not earn enough through the year to support her young family and could not supply the household with enough water during times of drought.

Dijé’s family was among the first to receive a small amount of money regularly from the government in 2012, through a World Bank-supported social safety net program which covered Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillabéry and Zinder—the five poorest regions in Niger.

“The 10,000 CFA francs that we receive has been a great help,” Dijé said, soon after the program was rolled out in Niger. “I pay a man 5,000 francs to bring water for my family, and I use the rest to buy rice, oil, and firewood so that I can feed my children.”

Dije is one of millions of poor people living in Africa’s massive Sahel region, which lies just south of the Sahara desert and is one of the most vulnerable parts of the world. Poverty in the rural Sahel is further deepened by the devastating effects of climate change on fields and livestock. - (ANA)

AB/ANA/ 18 July 2014 - - -