Feb 10, 2007

Niger’s Greening Brings New Possibilities for Cash

by Laura Starita

The link between poverty and environmental degradation feels like one of the more intractable challenges facing development today. Environmental change can be linked to food scarcity and economic failures as well as armed conflicts - one of the causes of the current conflict in Darfur, for example, is the competition between farmers and nomads for scarce and dwindling resources in a region becoming drier every year.

But the current greening of Niger puts that intractability into question. The New York Times reported last Sunday that for the past 30 years, Niger’s farmers have been leaving saplings to grow on their land instead of clearing them to prepare for planting, as they had done previously. The result is 7.4 million new tree-covered acres in the Sahel, a band of semi-desertous land south of the Sahara. These trees add nitrogen to the soil, which improves crop growth, and soil erosion.

More importantly, the government has given farmers ownership rights to trees on their land. Previously, the government owned trees no matter where they resided, giving farmers little incentive to let them grow. This shift not only encourages further greening, it allows farmers to make money off the trees by selling branches and fruit, which can significantly increase their income.

Niger may become a model for other countries fighting desertification, which is significantly better than being famous for denying famines.

New York Times: In Niger, Trees and Crops Turn Back the Desert