In the studies of the 2005 food crisis in Niger, the role of migrants and nationals living away from their home villages has been ignored. Yet from their host countries, they sent many different kinds of support to the disaster-hit populations. This outside support was channeled via alternative circuits outside the official crisis management structures set up by the State and its partners. Taking the case of the village of Bambey located to the west of Tahoua, this article describes and analyses how these locally designed social mechanisms helped farmers to remain in their villages and survive the crisis.