NIAMEY, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Niger will produce over 60 percent more cereals in this year's harvest than in 2009, when crops failed due to poor rains, leading to widespread hunger and a vast feeding programme, a United Nations study forecast.
The research, which was carried out with the government and looked at growing, food and market conditions in October, also forecast that the 2010 harvest will be over 40 percent higher than the 5-year average in the West African nation.
Uranium-producing Niger straddles the Sahara and faces chronic food crises but shortages after the 2009 crop were the worst in five years. Aid covered 80 percent of the needs, but pressure is on to find solutions to end the cycles of crises.
"Forecasts for cereal production are up 42 percent compared to the average for the last five years; and an increase of 62 percent compared to the 2009 (crop)," according to the report, published by OCHA, the U.N.'s aid coordinating agency.
Millet and sorghum are Niger's main cereal crops but the production of beans, which many Nigeriens rely on as a staple, is set to rise even more spectacularly to 1.97 million tonnes from 787,472 tonnes, the study found.
Higher production forecasts - attributed to better rains and the lack of parasites -- will mean surpluses in all but three of the country's eight regions and some urban areas.
But the U.N. report warned that communities would still be weak as they sought to rebuild their stocks, many of which were used up to try and help them through this year's crisis.
Niger is home to some 15 million people, 80 percent of whom live in rural communities and rely on rain-fed agriculture so the country is highly vulnerable to changeable weather patterns.
Despite averting what aid officials had feared could be a much worse situation, the U.N. has warned that the country must rein in population growth, which could see numbers reaching 50 million by 2050, to prevent further crises. [ID:nLDE69H0MK] (Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Charles Dick)
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