Resilience: A sultan and half-moons strengthen communities in Niger
MAKING SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS FOR FAMILIES LIVING IN THE SAHEL
For centuries, the people of Sahel have lived as nomadic pastoralists, migrating with their herds across an arid region, in search of food and water.
Accustomed as they are to the harsh living conditions and hot climate, recent changes in rainfall patterns and a rise in temperature have made it increasingly difficult for these people to access arable land that allows them to grow food for their families.
Over the years, food prices have risen in the Sahel, but these have not translated into higher incomes for smallholder farmers. For people in Niger, a land-locked country at the bottom of the UNDP Human Development Index, having access to food is a matter of life and death: one in ten children does not reach the age of five. Since 2000, the country has faced four food crises, most recently in 2012.
LEAN SEASON BRINGS HUNGER AND LACK OF ENERGY
It is estimated that 2.5 million people in Niger habitually lack sufficient food, even when harvests are good. The lean season — between harvests — lasts from May/June to September, when poor families often face empty granaries and can barely find enough food to survive, whilst the planting season demands considerable energy. During these months, many more people quickly fall into severe food insecurity.
Access to food is key to food security and a lack of access to arable land is preventing communities in Niger from growing sufficient food for their families. Many people who work on arable land often do not own it; they work for low wages usually on empty stomachs.
Determined to find a lasting solution for vulnerable families in Niger, WFP has started an innovative project in Zinder, in the south-central region, which is already improving lives.
ROYAL INTERVENTION
The Sultan of Zinder (also known as ‘Damagaram’) still enjoys substantial support from Niger’s population and local authorities, having both a spiritual and traditional role in society. As a “moderator”, he works together with local chiefs, to convince well-off landowners to rehabilitate their land, making it arable again.
WFP steps in with Food & Cash Assistance for Assets (FFA) projects, providing vulnerable households (beneficiaries) with food aid, in return for their efforts to regenerate the land. Besides food, the beneficiaries involved in this project receive part of the land they have been working as a lease from the landowner for a defined period (preferably lasting for as long as possible, up to 99 years), with access to arable land enabling them to grow crops for their families.
Furthermore, the project also allows them to plan better, sometimes gaining enough confidence to invest in other resources to increase their income. The land agreement is concluded with a contract, signed by the landowner, beneficiaries, local authorities and WFP.
A WIN-WIN PROJECT: FOR LANDOWNERS AND BENEFICIARIES
This resilience project assists very poor households for a three-year period, giving them the chance to raise their living standards to become self-sufficient and, most importantly, bolster them against future shocks.
The beneficiaries receive food or cash-based food assistance to help them through the harsh lean season. According to Mawa Soro, Head of WFP’s Zinder Field Office (in the photo above with the the Sultan of Zinder outside his historical palace), the FFA project helps prevent a further decline in people’s livelihoods, reducing their debts, while increasing their knowledge about food and nutrition security.
This link is very important in a country where 14.8 percent of children under two suffers from global acute malnutrition. Increasing knowledge on the root causes of malnutrition, together with active screening of all children in the targeted villages by community volunteers and referral to a nearby health centre if needed are key to bringing down these figures.
WFP works on this together with other UN agencies, including UNICEF. The Sultan has expressed his full support for the project, persuading reluctant landowners to invest in WFP’s FFA project. In fact, it is a win-win situation for both landowner and beneficiary: the land is rehabilitated, and both the owner and the families working the land have the opportunity to grow crops on it.
RESILIENCE IS THE BACKBONE OF WFP’S WORK IN NIGER
Recurring shocks are prevalent and likely to continue, due in large part to climate change. “The resilience project is the backbone of our operations in Niger. Without these types of interventions, there would be recurrent emergencies year after year. The only way to build resilience is to build livelihoods, and invest in people for some years,” says Benoit Thiry, WFP’s Country Director in Niger.
Access to land is important in Niger, as most people who work the land work on credit. Therefore they are unaffected by a good or bad harvest since the yield is for the landowner. A long-term land lease is a solution for these households who may either consume or sell their crops. In Zinder, more than 51,000 people benefited from FFA projects between January and May 2015, while nearly 111,000 people out of a total 530,000 have received unconditional assistance during the current lean season.
A major challenge for WFP in this region is the growing instability, as thousands of people have been forced to flee into neighbouring Diffa province from Northern-Nigeria where Boko Haram is active. In Niger alone, it is estimated that some 150,000 people have become either refugees or internally displaced. The young people who are lured into the conflict often have few job opportunities. Creating sustainable alternatives for the very poor makes their youth less vulnerable to radicalization.
HALF-MOONS UNDER THE SUN
Together with the community, WFP and its partners plan ways to strengthen households’ resilience. In some areas, irrigation measures such as half-moon water catchments are popular: these ensure that during the rainy season, the water does not run off the surface, but soaks into the arid soil, allowing crops to grow (food as well as vegetation, such as eucalyptus, and animal fodder).
This simple measure, if done properly, can significantly increase production per hectare. WFP in Niger is also working together with FAOto provide households with improved seeds, further augmenting their agricultural output. Amadou Zakari, Chief of Canton Doungass, who is working with the Sultan and WFP to encourage landowners to join the irrigation project, says peoples’ lives have changed considerably.
In the village of Wara Wara, where a pond was cleared through a WFP FFA project, the villagers can now fish and land is being rehabilitated for agriculture.
ENABLING COMMUNITIES TO FEED THEMSELVES
Niger has the highest population growth rate on earth, a trend often attributed to and linked with poverty. Megani Maman (photo below), a 25 year-old father of five children, says that before WFP’s intervention, he did not have much to live on. “I used to cut down trees and sell the wood. I also worked in Nigeria, but due to the conflict this has become too dangerous.
Since the pond has been cleared I have enough food for my family, and I can stay home with them. This has a lasting benefit on my children’s lives.” When the local Chief is asked whether this project should be implemented elsewhere, he responds positively: “Yes, everywhere! The whole village here agrees with the project. It is because they have seen real results.”
In Niger, WFP is assisting a total of 300,000 people with resilience projects. On their behalf, WFP is grateful for the support of donors, including the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO).
THE HUMAN CHAIN:
In 2012, ECHO funded a documentary on Niger, featuring WFP projects, supported by the European Union. Watch The Human Chain here:
