By Awa Cheikh Faye
"Niger is a Sahelian country, a large part of the territory is affected by drought, especially in rural areas. Even in some urban centers, there are pockets of drought," Sani Ayouba laments to TRT Afrika.
This young man is the head of the Young Volunteers for the Environment (JVE-Niger), an organisation that fights for the preservation of the environment.
His mission takes him daily to see the effects of drought on the livelihoods of people in Niger, especially women.
"Especially in rural areas, where 70% of the population live, women depend entirely on agricultural and livestock activities. The scarcity of rains, drought and desertification have an impact on these activities. This accentuates inequalities and poverty," he says.
Vegetables affected
"They are unable to produce enough to feed their families and sell in the markets in the villages to meet the daily needs of the children," adds Sani Ayouba.
Desertification is a natural phenomenon that refers to the progressive degradation of soils in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas.
Largely caused by the impact of climate change and human activities, it exacerbates the deterioration of vegetation, soil erosion and leads to migration of people.
Desertification and drought affect market gardening, a form of farming that Niger's women engage in.
Access to water is difficult because with the drought, market garden wells dry up. As a result, the crops of cabbage, lettuce, tomato or even squash that these women produce, consume and sell do not meet their expectations.
Animals are affected too because grasses become scarce as a result of the scarcity of rains.
Food banks
"This is why Niger is implementing a project known as ZARESE to improve food security and promote peasant initiatives in areas at high environmental and social risk" explains Mrs. Issa Hamsatou Kailou, technical advisor in communication and public relations to the National Environment Council for Sustainable Development.
This project aims to contribute to the restoration of production systems to improve the lives of people in communities vulnerable to climate change impact and to reduce migration.
It consists of the construction of pastoral wells, market garden wells, dykes, the establishment of food banks for livestock and the rehabilitation of degraded areas.
ZARESE thus intends to increase and diversify sustainable agro-silvo-pastoral production, rehabilitate degraded areas and provide beneficiaries with access to land in order to promote participatory local development that is resilient to climate change.
The project is particularly targeted at young farmers, women and migrant families headed by women.
Protecting ecosystem
This year, the theme of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought celebrated on June 17 is ''Her land. Her rights.''
By choosing the theme, the UN ''emphasises that investing in women’s equal access to land and associated assets is a direct investment in their future and the future of humanity.''
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought commemorates the adoption of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 1994.
The convention is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
Its objective is to raise awareness of the causes and dangers of these phenomena and to encourage efforts at the international level to avoid disastrous consequences for humanity and planetary ecosystems.
