This article is based on personal experience "inside" Niger's Food Crisis Cell (CCA in French), which is the national structure that acts as secretariat to the National Agency for Food Crisis Prevention and Management (DNPGCA in French), and that was therefore in charge of managing the response to the food crisis and coordinating the various actors involved. This article provides nuance to some of the often highly simplified messages put out by the media on the situation and the coordination problems, as well as illustrating the problems that may have been caused by these messages. The analysis of available facts indicates that the "conflicts" between institutions as relayed by the media stemmed more from mutual lack of understanding due to different plans of action and rationale, depending on the level of intervention?technical or political, local, or international?even within the same organization. We outline the progress made by the DNPGCA since 2005, buffered by the evidence of clear insufficiencies. Finally, several lessons are shared, including the most visible one, namely the weakening effect on national structures brought about by external interventions during an emergency situation.