>> mariama has already lost one young child.ike most mothers in niger, she's worried it could happen again. so she hangs traditional charms around her youngest son hoping good luck will help save his life. >> these mothers are like you, like me. there's no difference. they have a child. they love that child. they will do what they can to protect that child. >> they need immediate help to do that. in this distant, quiet places, where too many kettles have gone cold. >> these people, women, and children deserve our attention and our time. >> bazi kanani, abc news, niger. >> they deserve our attention. thanks to bazi kanani in the hunger zone, and if you feel like you want to help. visit abcnews.com to learn how you can help. >>> up next, this is a real life jurassic park, complete with a moving, breathing t rex. you're at the age r ] where you don't get thrown by curveballs. ♪ this is the age of knowing how to get things done. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men alread

mothers such as mariama can no longer feed her three children. they ate leaves. >> is this all you have cooked for your family today? >> reporter: mariama is now eating so little, her body cannot produce enough breast milk to feed her six-month-old baby. all she can do, is place traditional charms around little conneda's neck, hoping good luck will ward off illness. families here depend on farming, but this drought has taken everything from them. it ruined last year's crop. if there is no rain in the next four months, another harvest will be lost. just making it through today is harrowing enough. they hand over their children, and watch as they are weighed in buckets. they are measured. their fate, a color wrapped around tiny arms. green is best. their body holding on. but you hardly see any green. yellow is worrying, too thin. red means severe mal nutrition. this child is a year old, really? little nacia, 1 year old, is red. she weighs just eight pounds, what many american babies weigh at birth. today she is lucky. she'll get a meal, a nutrition

because of the drought and crop failure, mothers like mariama are struggling to feed their families. this is what she has cooked for her family today. >> leaves she goes out to pick from trees are the only food she has. >> i don't think any of us can accept that this mother has to go and pick wild food for her children to eat. if she doesn't go and do it every day then they don't have anything to eat. >> reporter: in other parts of the country where aid agencies have been able to reach, we find long lines of women desperate for the help. this mother came to get food for her 2-month-old son. he's barely alive. at rural health clinics, children are weighed and measured. red on the arm band means severe malnutrition. doctors are seeing more and more of it every day. this child is a year old. really? little nafisa weighs barely more than a newborn. she'll get moved into these lines to get special nutritional supplements. but aid agencies say these supplies are limited and they need more before it's too late. >> these people, these women, these children, they deserve our attention. they d