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Library An overview of the development challenges and constraints of the Niger Basin and possible intervention strategies

An overview of the development challenges and constraints of the Niger Basin and possible intervention strategies

An overview of the development challenges and constraints of the Niger Basin and possible intervention strategies

Resource information

Date of publication
december 2011
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
handle:10568/16759
License of the resource

The Niger River Basin covers 7.5% of the African continent, and is shared between nine riparian

countries. The basin countries can be categorized into water resources producers, consumers, both

producers and consumers, and minimum contributors and consumers. As in the case for most

transboundary rivers, upstream and downstream conflicts emanating from the development and

utilization of the Niger River are inevitable and are expected to be intense, particularly given the

escalating demands for water from the many uses and users. The basin is divided into four major

sections, namely Upper Niger, Inland Delta, Middle Niger, and Lower Niger. But these divisions,

though useful, are too generic to provide a complete understanding of biophysical, hydrological

and socioeconomic processes impinging on the basin’s water resources, and to provide intervention

recommendations. On average, the basin’s population is two-thirds (64%) rural and a significant

part of the northern zones of the basin is unpopulated.

People in the basin are engaged in various livelihood strategies such as dry- and wet-season

cropping systems, pastoral systems, crop-livestock systems, and fishing. The dry-season livelihood

systems include fadama (lowland or inland valleys) farming, recession flood farming, agroforestry,

irrigated rice farming and fishing. Wet-season livelihood systems center mostly on cereal cropping

and transhumance. The major crops grown in the basin are yam, cassava, rice, groundnut, millet,

sorghum, plantain, cocoa, maize, sugarcane, and cotton. Agriculture represents a large part of the

gross domestic product (GDP) of the Niger River Basin with crop production alone contributing

25-35% of the basin’s GDP, while livestock and fishery contribute 10-15% and 1-4%, respectively.

All countries of the Niger Basin suffer from chronic and acute poverty and are ranked ‘poor’

by most poverty indicators (Human Development Index [HDI]), child mortality, life expectancy,

Social Vulnerability Index, etc.). Several structural (social and institutional) factors hold a large

segment of the basin’s population in the throes of poverty. Niger Basin’s challenge is to break this

vicious circle by using resources to generate sustainable growth that is favorable to the poor. Some

of the prominent water-related challenges are degradation of land and water resources, climate

change and variability, vulnerability to disasters, inefficiency and poor performance of agriculture

(rain-fed and irrigation), competing demands between sectors and water users and inadequate

investment in water infrastructure. At a wider level, inadequate public services, institutional and

governance failure, high population growth and urbanization, poor macro-economic performance,

and unemployment have also undermined the development of the basin. The severity of these

challenges varies from location to location in the basin.

The basin’s development goals and objectives originate as a response to the development

challenges and are articulated in various policy documents such as the Niger Basin Shared Vision

(NBA PADD), poverty reduction strategy papers, United Nations (UN) Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs), and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), specifically the pillars

1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). The

goals of the basin countries are eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary

education; promoting gender equality and empowerment of women; reducing child mortality;

improving maternal health; combating Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune

Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability;

and developing a global partnership for development.

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The specific development objectives of the basin countries are the following:

• Increase income, generate jobs, improve living standards, and alleviate poverty, especially

among the poorest section of the population while at the same time safeguarding the

environment including the sustainable management of the Niger Basin water resources.

• Improve access to health and education services, and increase life expectancy.

• Achieve political stability, good governance and an appropriate institutional framework.

• Improve the investment climate for private-sector development where infrastructure plays

a decisive part.

• Develop infrastructures and the productive sector to ensure better productivity of factors

of production and economic growth.

• Reduce food imports, boost agricultural exports through stabilization, intensification and

expansion of agricultural production.

To realize the basin’s development goals and objectives the following water-centered

intervention clusters needed to be synergistically pursued.

• Ensuring right to secure access to water for the poor.

• Developing new infrastructure.

• Improving access to agricultural water management innovations.

• Strengthening Niger Basin’s water governance.

• Upgrading rain-fed systems.

• Reducing the vulnerability of poor people to climate shocks and other hazards.

• Minimizing degradation of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

• Diversifying livelihood strategies.

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Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s)

Namara, R.E.
Owusu, E.S.
Ogilvie, A.
Barry, Boubacar

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