Jun 23, 2020
Farming in Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, is extremely labor intensive. The country, which lays partly in the Sahara Desert, has seen increases in mean temperatures multi-year droughts over the last two decades. Nigerien farmers rely on rain to grow their crops. However, insufficient and variable rainfall has led to limited agricultural productivity for the agricultural sector, which accounts for over 40 percent of Niger’s GDP. Lack of an appropriate irrigation technology meant that farmers could not tap into the vast and underutilized water held in underground aquifers and ease their dependence on traditional rainfed farming methods during the prolonged dry season which spans seven-eight months of the year. Women, who mostly do not own land, are disproportionately affected by shortage of rainwater for farming. They resort to wells, which are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and unsafe. Small and medium-sized farmers in Niger are also impacted by financing challenges, such as limited access to credit to purchase effective agricultural inputs and equipment. They also lack extension services to transfer knowledge and technical capacity to farmers.
The Niger Irrigation Project (NIP) was one of four projects identified in Niger’s Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) funded by the CIF’s Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR). The purpose of the NIP was to test new small-scale irrigation techniques through the private sector that would engender beneficiary acceptance and support, and promote sustainable agriculture, while creating conditions for private sector involvement in the agricultural sector through potential public-private partnerships. The NIP seeks to utilize both underground and surface water resources to pilot private sector-led small-scale irrigation schemes in local communities in Niger. USD 1.5 million in PPCR concessional financing was used to support these schemes, which could be replicated in the future without further subsidies. IFC, as the implementing entity of the NIP, provided a PPCR grant to a competitively selected a private sector company, Netafim, to provide drip irrigation.
Learn More:
- Click here to download the case study and summary.
- Case Study and Summary also available in French
