A previously degraded acreage in a semi-arid settlement in Niger Republic has metamorphosed into life-giving grassland, thanks to a sustainable land management initiative that is now in its second phase.
Prior to the intervention in Tchirofondou, located in Urban Commune of Say within the confines of the Region of Tillaberi, the community was a bare stretch of dry, sullied land. But the transformed drylands now feature a stretch of vegetation in form of vegetables, grasses, trees and economic crops, which has become a source of livelihood to the local people.
Located 65km south of Niamey, the nation’s capital, Tchirofondou is one of the land recovery sites under PAC3, a CFA 13,888,450 worth project bearing two components that are listed to include:
- Recovery of land degraded by the CES/DRS method with plantation of acacia Senegal and seedling of herbaceous plants on an area of 30 hectares (ha); and
- Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) on an area of 70ha.
Plagued by land degradation due to high human and livestock pressure accentuated by a decline in rainfall, as well as shifting cultivation, Tchirofondou at the end of the 2016 wintering season reportedly produced a significant amount of straw that was judiciously used by the management committee. The produce, it was gathered, was used to feed animals, and build granaries and homes.
In the 2017 crop year however, the community has requested support from PAC3 to begin development of the site. The women of the various villages undertook a trial to produce cereal (sorghum) and legume (groundnut) in accordance with the objective of the micro project (increase in agro-sylvo-pastoral production). The experience is said to come from start-up and monitored closely by the municipality and all concerned technical departments.
The ANR component is implemented in the fields of the volunteers with the supervision of the service of the environment and the PAC3 personnel.
The revelations were made to a group of journalists and communicators attending the Regional Workshop on Communicating Project Results to Different Audiences in Niamey recently under the Building Resilience through Innovation, Communication and Knowledge Services (BRICKS) project. It was supported by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Global Environment Facility (GEF), World Bank, Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) and Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS).
An indigene of Tchirofondou, Ismanu Madu, said: “We now plant sorghum. Initially, we were faced with a lot of difficulties. From the fodder grown on the site, we were able to take care of our expenses. With the project, everything invested has helped improve living conditions and women’s livelihood.
“All the women are mobilised and have to work in order to draw the maximum benefits of the project. Even after the project ends, they will continue, as they have seen its benefits.”
Referring to the numerous bow-shaped mounds made of earth on the field, another local folk submitted: “It is used to trap the rain water, which infiltrates the soil, and from where vegetation grows. It is called the ‘half moon’.
“The site depends on rainfall exclusively. For the future, we plan to dig boreholes on this site as well as on others. The crops we grow here are drought-resistant, such as sorghum, peanuts, okra and sesame. We do mixed cropping. We sell grass for animal feed and gum Arabic, which yields about CFA 800,000 per ha per annum.
“We have other sites (total of 26 sites) that have started planting the gum Arabic, and it is on the basis of this that we did this projection. PAC1 and PAC2 featured 45,000 ha with the cultivation of gum Arabic and fodder grass. However, 86,000 ha are being cultivated under PAC3, with the cultivation of agricultural produce, gum Arabic and fodder grass.”
