Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
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Combating desertification in Niger has tremendous benefits in enhancing
progress towards meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) particularly
in terms of poverty reduction, attaining food security, combating diseases
and ensuring environmental sustainability. Otherwise current trends in land
degradation and high level of vulnerability of the region to the impacts of both
drought and desertification will be major impediments to the attainment of the
MDGs as well as ensuring security and social stability at all levels in the region.
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Niger has responded and made some demonstrated progress towards tackling
drought and desertification. The UNCCD has been central and provides vital
opportunities for tackling drought and desertification in Niger. With support from
international partners, Niger is taking some concrete action at various levels to
tackle desertification as well as to mitigate the impacts of drought
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Implementation of these plans has commenced and urgently needs to be scaled
up with a special emphasis on achieving implementation and impact at local
level. In this context mechanisms are needed for providing technical and long-
term financial support for combating drought and desertification especially to
decentralised local government and communities.
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Work has commenced, but major effort is needed to strengthen the establishment
of systems for drought and desertification monitoring, early warning and drought
risk management. In this connection concrete data about current rates and
extent of desertification needs to collected and disseminated to inform policy
development and implementation.
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Niger continues to face a number of challenges and constraints that constitute
major impediments and hamper progress in addressing drought and desertifi-
cation and attaining sustainable development. Notable are the high levels of
poverty, weak institutional capacities, challenges in resource mobilization, weak
information base, and inadequate access to affordable appropriate technology.
These impediments merit urgent attention if progress is to be accelerated.
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The main priority approaches and actions proposed to accelerate progress,
recognize the need to address the root causes of desertification, respond to
the main challenges, tackle constraints, and upscale implementation of existing
programs and plans for SLM building on the success stories.
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In order to succeed and achieve significant progress in combating desertification
and mitigating impacts of drought, there is need for enhanced political will and
commitment at all levels to address these problems as integral priority element
within MDG and poverty reduction based programs and strategies.
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Through a mix of soil and water conservation techniques, combined with better
tree and pasture management, simple and low cost farmer led innovations and
technologies can help achieve sustainable farming systems needed to combat
land degradation. Building on and reinforcing these innovations and technologies
with outside expertise and resources support can foster achievement of greater
results
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One solution to desertification is for farmers to stabilize their environment
themselves by inter-cropping edible perennials in their fields. Perennials act as
anchors that stabilize the soil against wind and water erosion and also improve
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