Niger

03.10.2024 | Severe flooding has hit the Sahel region in recent weeks. The normally longed-for rainy season is now leading to another critical situation in Niger. Further support is urgently needed!

As an expert in the fields of agroecology and gender equality, SWISSAID works in nine countries. On the ground and in close cooperation with local partners, we promote initiatives by people who are independently seeking a way out of poverty.

29.02.2024 | Niger is once again facing an acute food crisis. Due to drought at the end of 2023, over 40% of villages did not produce enough to survive until the next harvest. This distress is compounded by international sanctions and inflation. SWISSAID is providing emergency aid to the most vulnerable. For the first time, a mobile seed market will be set up.

Niger is particularly affected by climate change: heavy rainfall alternates with droughts. This fuels hunger. But not everywhere: one region has improved its living conditions with the help of SWISSAID. And in the long term.

Heat, floods, desertification: The consequences of the climate crisis are being felt particularly strongly on the African continent. This is driving millions of people into poverty and flight. How SWISSAID’s work is creating hope together with the local population.

With the military coup in Niger, the country is currently experiencing a profound political crisis. The people have already been suffering from terror and hunger and the difficult food situation for years. The Ukraine war drove up the price of basic foodstuffs, and an acute drought is now being compounded by the consequences of the government crisis.

How can we remain hopeful when our main means of survival requires constant adaptation and the knowledge to do so? This is the challenge facing the inhabitants of the Fabidji commune in Niger, whose crops are being affected by the disastrous effects of climate change. A project aims to strengthen their resilience.

To have access to clean water and toilets in the school compound. Improve the health of communities through the knowledge conveyed by the children. Learning basic nutrition through school gardens: this is the promise of the Blue Schools that are flourishing in the four corners of the world. Like here in Niger, where awareness and infrastructures improve the health of the population.

Industrialized countries are primarily responsible for climate change, but it is mainly the populations of the South who suffer. Niger is particularly hard hit. In an interview, Sonja Tschirren, SWISSAID’s Climate Officer, explains the reasons for this situation, how bleak the outlook is, and what responsibility Switzerland must shoulder.

Throughout 2022, the inhabitants of Niger feared the worst. Already weakened by numerous conflicts, climate change has destroyed their crops and left their granaries empty. One year after the beginning of the crisis, women farmers tell us about their situation and how emergency aid saved them and their families.

The food report published by the Sufosec Alliance on the occasion of World Food Day on 16 October 2022 shows shocking results. It highlights the dramatic increase in hunger in the world with figures and testimonies from those affected in the South. But it also gives hope and shows a way out of the hunger crisis. For example, with agroecology.

26.09.2022 | The war in Ukraine has drastic effects worldwide. Especially in our African partner countries, the consequences are worrying. People who were already threatened by hunger before are now facing food shortages and price increases for basic foodstuffs. On this page you will find news and developments in our partner countries.

02.09.2022 | January emergency aid in the south south of Niger is bearing fruit. The farmers in need in need have received food packages and have been able to plant fast-growing seeds for almost immediate consumption. Beyond the emergency, the project has allowed a conversion to more resistant and quality crops for fight against the climate change.

The CROPS4HD program takes place in four SWISSAID countries. In Niger, it revalorizes forgotten traditional crops that hold great nutritional potential for peasant families. Resistant and adapted to the climate, they are a real solution to the problems faced by Nigerien families.

19.07.2022 | SWISSAID is helping the poorest families in southern Niger to survive until the autumn harvest. An emergency aid project provides them with seeds and food parcels to minimise the impact of the impending food crisis. 

21.2.22 | The emergency aid launched in December in the Dosso region of Niger is soon bearing its first fruit. Thanks to the rapid procurement of seeds, we have already been able to distribute 62 kilos of urgently needed plant seeds to the farmers. The first harvest is coming soon.

Hunger, misery, hardship: a tragedy is brewing in Niger. 3.7 million people are threatened by acute hunger. Conflicts and climate change are to blame. The people are left with nothing. SWISSAID is helping quickly and unbureaucratically with food parcels and seeds.

12.11.2021 | Today, COP26 in Glasgow comes to an end. While we wait for the outcome of the negotiations, Ibrahim Hamadou, a staff member of SWISSAID Niger, gives his perspective. He reports from an African country that has been suffering the consequences of climate change for many years.

Water is central to the lives of people in rural communities in Niger. In these regions, we strive to raise awareness among the population for a sustainable and optimal management of this resource and to secure its access. To avoid tensions, accidents and exodus.

Washing hands is a decisive measure in the fight against the coronavirus. It is simple and shouldn’t be complicated to implement – so long as there is flowing water. In Niger, where access to clean water is still reserved for a minority, a virus can quickly lead to disaster.

Dried out or washed away: seeds have a hard time in Niger’s nutrient-poor soils. With climate change, it is therefore becoming increasingly important that seeds are resistant to extreme weather conditions. Local farmers have also recognised this. Their knowledge of the use of traditional seeds is a key element on the road to long-term food security.

As a foundation for development cooperation, SWISSAID is also heavily affected by the corona virus. Faced with the crisis, each employee and each project had to reinvent themselves and often work in a hurry. On this page, you will find news from our partner countries for the months of March and April. –Translated with DeepL

15.04.2020 | Washing hands, restricting contacts, exposing fake news: the measures against the coronavirus in our partner countries in the south are similar to those in Switzerland. The only difference is that the general conditions are much more difficult. How SWISSAID is tackling the problem – and why hygiene is not only fundamental to health, but also counteracts the threat of conflict.

Where to help when there people have nothing? Access to water is the most important thing, says SWISSAID employee Ibrahim Hamadou. In Niger, children in the “Blue Schools” learn why hygiene and healthy nutrition are also essential for survival.

What many people may smile about has a serious background: sanitation systems are in scarce supply in impoverished countries and the consequences are devastating. For that reason, donations support the construction of latrines – and drinking water supply systems. This gives women and children more time and energy to work and learn and generally improves everyone’s health.