Approche territoriale du projet Keita (KEITA)

The Keita Project (KEITA) offers a case study of the biophysical and socio-economic impacts of a large-scale, long-term, externally funded, integrated territorial development project to enhance food security and sustainable land management.

The Keita Department is located in the center of the Republic of Niger and covers an area of more than 4,860 km2 composed of a plateau with rocky slopes and valleys, forming a complex system of watersheds subject to strong winds and water erosion. The Keita valley has always represented a border for the Sahara desert, allowing the development of a multiethnic community composed of farmers coming from southern regions and nomads from the north.

The Ader Doutchi Maggia Rural Development Project (PDR-ADM), known as Keita Project, was launched in 1982 in the framework of the Italian Initiative for the Sahel to reduce food insecurity in a region close to environmental collapse. The main objective was to increase food security over a very large area, while combating desertification through the reduction of soil erosion and reforestation.

KEITA subdivided the project area into units, named Elementary Territorial Units (UTE), where the project intervened by:

(1) reclamation of the plateau and the abandoned land in the valleys for agricultural and pastoral purposes, (2) reforestation of the slopes, of the banks of ephemeral streams (koris) and dunes, (3) creation of wind breaks and forest areas, (4)  control of the water flow in the koris by banks consolidation and small dams.

KEITA has also addressed the social and economic development by building schools, medical centers, wells and roads, and providing technical assistance and financial support for the creation of new economic activities.

The three main types of intervention focusing on soil conservation were the banquette de plateau, the tranchée and the banquette de glacis. The banquette de plateau transformed the plateau from a marginal resource for livestock to a main resource with great potential, often with increases in forage yields of more than 90%. The tranchée has proven an extremely efficient practice  in strongly reducing the water erosion on arable lands and in allowing agricultural activities on previously abandoned lands. The trees planted represent a valuable resource of wood for cooking and goat feed. The banquette de glacis has been effective in reclaiming arable land previously subjected to desertification and abandoned, even though the poor quality of the soil would not allow yields comparable to those coming from the best arable land in the valley. The trees planted in the area produced eight times more wood per plant, than the trees planted in the tranchée and yielded twice as much goat feed than the banquette de plateau.

Over a period of 20 years (1984-2003) in 34,483 ha reclamation and improvement of agricultural and pasture lands, reforestation and dune fixation was implemented, 18 million trees were planted, 313 km of roads were constructed, 708 wells excavated, 40 small dams built, and 28,000 m2 of rural buildings erected. The KEITA actions increased the availability of croplands, often by reclamation of unproductive areas, and to increase output and productivity, while keeping land degradation and desertification in check.

The project’s presence also changed the agricultural production structure of the area, by (1) making the traditional agro-pastoral system, based on rainfed millet and nomadic flocks, more complex through a larger production of cash crops, as onions and sesame, (2) introduction of fish farming in reservoirs, (3) improved commercialization of non-timber forest products (Arabic gum, leaves, fruits).

KEITA’s long duration and  focus on soil conservation and land reclamation interventions makes it an ideal area to study the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the fight against desertification.  The availability of long series of environmental data and information concerning the age and typology of interventions allows the development of specific environmental analysis and indicators based on data rather than models.