Learn more about Niger

It's people:

• Niger has a population of more than 10 million
• Sixty-six per cent of the population lives on one US dollar a day
• In the urban zones, 52 per cent of the population is poor, and 26 per cent live in extreme poverty
• In rural zones these rates are even worse, with more than 73 per cent living in extreme poverty
• The under-five mortality rate is amongst the highest in the world
• Only 22 per cent of children between 12 to 23 months are completely vaccinated. Instead of improving, malnutrition among children has worsened in the last ten years
• The maternal death rate, with 590/10000, is one of the highest in the world

The land:

• it is a landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel. Bordered by Algeria and Libya in the north, Chad in the east, Nigeria and Benin in the south, Burkina Faso in the southwest, and Mali to the west
• two-thirds of the land-mass of the country is desert
• it is characterised by difficult climatic conditions and poor land, due to increased climate degradation and demographic pressure
• Niger's main food crops are millet, sorghum, cassava and rice
• the cash crops are cowpeas, cotton, groundnuts, onions and green beans.
• agricultural activities are almost totally dependent on rainfall, as irrigation is virtually non-existent except for a few government backed irrigated rice growing projects
• Livestock are an important source of income (15% of GDP)

Agriculture constitutes the basis of the economy with a contribution of 40 per cent to the GDP. All these agricultural activities depend almost entirely on the rainy season because irrigation is not well developed in the country. It is estimated that more than half of the population do not have enough food even when the rainy season is good.