Building capacity related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP MEAs 3)

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Niger

Farmer Field School training session in the region of Dosso in Niger.

Niger is a landlocked country in the Sahel region of Western Africa that has witnessed an accelerated level of biodiversity degradation over the last three decades due to drought, hunting, poaching, overgrazing, bush fires, and chemical and biological pollution.

Threats to biodiversity for food and agriculture are causing a decline in the production potential of agroforestry ecosystems, species, and varieties in Niger, where over 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas and approximately 84 percent relies on agriculture for employment and subsistence.

Agriculture accounts for 40 percent of Niger’s gross domestic product (GDP). Livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses and poultry account for 62 percent of export earnings in the rural sector and 21 percent of all exports.

ACP MEAs actions

Where do we work?

ACP MEAs 3 is being implemented in the provinces of Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Zinder and Tillabery.

Agrobiodiversity

  • Revision of the Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM) of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and capacity building activities with stakeholders.
  • Capacity building of 60 heads of the Communal Services of the Environment and Agricultural Districts on the use of bio-pesticides to manage insect pests. They will ensure technology transfer to rural producers.
  • Restoration of plant biodiversity through Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) certification in approximately 600 he of farmland.
  • Establishment of village environmental protection committees involving 140 farmers in 35 villages.

Highly Hazardous Pesticides

  • Refresher training on pesticide alternatives to control pests for 20 plant protection agents and 25 agricultural district managers.

Farmer Field Schools

  • Set up of 20 agro-pastoral field schools reaching 500 farmers in the regions of Tillabéry, Dosso, Tahoua, Maradi and Zinder.
  • 30 facilitators (5 to 6 facilitators for each region), among extension agents and farmers, trained on climate-smart agriculture, ecosystem-based practices and approaches for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for food and agriculture, and the manufacture and use of biological pesticides.