The real causes of food shortages in Niger

Millions of people are facing food shortages in Niger, after drought and a bad harvest. But let’s not forget the real causes:

Repeated violent outbreaks, political instability, widespread poverty and subsistence agriculture, an obsession with self-sufficiency in a country that is not suited to farming, and policies that prop up inefficient domestic production at the expense of cheaper and abundant food imports. Lessons from 2005 crisis have not been learned.