| Project Detail |
In Niger, in a context of political transition, food security remains a major issue. It depends in particular on the performance of family farms that are struggling to provide for their own food. Switzerland supports small-scale irrigation to offer women and young people in particular opportunities for employment and agricultural income, but also to modernize family farms and thus contribute to the countrys food security. The results of the 2023-2024 irrigated campaign gave a production of around eight million tonnes of all crops combined. However, this did not make up for the significant deficit recorded following the 2023 agro-pastoral campaign. In an attempt to fill this gap, the State and its partners still present, including Switzerland, provided assistance to around 7 million people in the 5,000 deficit villages. Arable land represents 15% of the 127 million hectares (ha) of Nigers surface area, or around 19 million ha. Almost 8 of the 19 million ha are already used for dry farming and 11 million ha are irrigable. Access to land, especially suitable for irrigation, remains a major issue for most women and young people in Niger. Until 2023, only 3% of the eleven million irrigable hectares were irrigated, more than 70% of which were through small-scale irrigation. However, 52% of the irrigable potential is located in areas where the water table is not very deep. Despite the relative weakness of the irrigated areas, production had still increased from around 1.6 million tonnes to 8 million tonnes between 2010 and 2023, mainly through small-scale irrigation. To meet the challenges of food sovereignty, the current authorities have launched a large-scale irrigation programme to develop around 20,000 hectares. This could require expropriation of smallholders land. Objectives Contribute to the consolidation and strengthening of Food Security and the economic sustainability of Family Farms and Womens and Youth Groups involved in Small-Scale Irrigation in the regions of Maradi and Dosso. |
