Agriculture and rural development

Agriculture, a mode a subsistance

Our Actions In the Same Country

Basic Education in Niger

Partner's Story

GIE DANI

Nos actions

In Agriculture and Rural Development in Niger

Agriculture is the most important economic sector in Niger. However, the context for rural development is not propitious. In sync with the Poverty Reduction Strategy adopted by the government of Niger in 2002, Uniterra’s partners have set three objectives: reconcile resource conservation with the intensification of production in farming, forestry and grazing; seek greater stability in the domestic and regional markets; and strengthen the technical/administrative capacities of rural producers, including the promotion of fair trade.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN MALI Area: 1,267,000 km2 (CIDA) Population: 12.4 million (CIDA) Gross National Income (GNI) per capita: $200 US Agriculture accounts for 40% of the GDP Life expectancy at birth: 46 years Niger is a veritable bridge between North Africa and Central Africa. Located in the heart of the Sahel, it is characterized by extreme climate conditions, poor soil and growing desertification.	ON THE GROUND The sustainability of resources requires higher productivity. Uniterra’s partners support activities for intensifying production and coordinating the sustainable management of resources. Uniterra’s partners are also working to facilitate the insertion of national production in the domestic market and in West Africa. Uniterra’s partners have set up activities in a number of areas—training, access to information and support for management and organizational capacities—in order to strengthen the position of producers within their respective agrifood sectors. SOME OF OUR PARTNERS IN NIGER La Plateforme Paysanne du Niger (PPN) The PPN is a federation of 21 rural organizations created in 1998, in the wake of the Koudougou initiative in Burkina Faso. Its role is to defend the interests of rural communities in order to improve living conditions and contribute to sustainable development in Niger. The PPN represents Niger’s peasant organizations at the national, regional and international levels and constitutes a forum for sharing experiences in agriculture and rural development. Groupement d’intérêts économiques DANI The Groupement d’intérêts économiques (GIE) is an organization that was created on June 2, 2003, through the efforts of 13 crafts cooperatives located in Niger. The GIE is supported by a number of international partners, including the CECI. It has a membership of 2,836 craftspeople, nearly half of which are women from different regions and ethnicities in the country, and providing it with a wide variety of crafts. High quality jewellery, leathercrafts, shoes, pottery and baskets are sold in 6 savings and credit unions as well as a number of shops in Africa, Europe and Canada. For the last two years, the group has participated in the Salon des métiers d’arts in Montreal, Quebec. The group’s philosophy is one of fair trade and their goal is to improve the living conditions of craftspeople, fine-tune their marketing and provide them with improved commercial equity in sales abroad. By choosing fair trade, the GIE helps craftspeople leave poverty behind.
REDUCE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER Food insecurity and malnutrition constitute priority sectors for Uniterra's partners in every country in its program: Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.