More than five million people are going hungry in Niger, the impoverished west African country's premier said Wednesday.

A survey in December showed that "34.9 percent of Niger households, or over 5.456 million people, are in a situation of food and nutritional insecurity," Brigi Rafini told national radio.

Among them "1.324 million people are affected by severe food insecurity," said the prime minister.

"We must act right now," stressed Rafini during a visit to Tillaberi, a western Niger region that has been hard hit by the food crisis.

Niger is short of 519,639 tonnes of cereals -- or 14 percent of what it needs to feed 15 million people in 2012, said the agriculture ministry.

Poor harvests, drought and cricket attacks have been blamed.

European humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, who is visiting Niger, warned of the situation plaguing the country and the Sahel region.

Some 1.7 million children are in a "vulnerable situation," she said.

Launching an appeal for international aid, Georgieva said the EU "has more than doubled its aid for the Sahel," contributing 105 million euros to help the region fight the food crisis.