The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, is to visit the African state of Niger to witness the effects of malnutrition on children there as a result of the food crisis in the region.
Mr Annan's two-day visit will begin on Tuesday in the country's second city, Zinder, where he will meet the Nigerien President, Mamadou Tandja, and visit a hospital where starving children are being treated.
The Zinder region is one of the hardest hit by drought and creeping desert. The region has also been hampered by last year's locust swarms that devastated crops.
Mr Annan will then go on to the capital, Niamey, where he will hold talks with Mr Tandja and representatives of UN agencies operating in the country.
The UN says over 2,500,000 people are 'in a vulnerable situation' in Niger, said to be the second poorest country in the world.
