The food crisis had been predicted for almost a yearThe food crisis in Niger also threatens three other countries in the region - Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, the United Nations has warned.
At least 2.5m people in the three countries need food aid and like Niger they were hit by drought and a plague of locusts last year.
Niger's president is due to visit the worst hit south of his country, where aid is now beginning to arrive.
The UN's food agency says it expects to feed 250,000 people within a few days.
