The government of Niger has injected 15% of the annual state budget over the next five years in the Agriculture sector. The country’s President, Mohamed Bazoum made the announcement and said the move aims to boost the sector.
The announcement was made during the virtual summit “Feeding Africa: Leadership to Scale Up Successful Innovations.” whose objective is to identify ways to scale up activities, increase funding and strengthen partnerships to better harness technology to transform agriculture in Africa.
The meeting was attended by several heads of state, including President Felix Tshisekedi, current chairman of the African Union, and the presidents of financial institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote were also present.
Niger’s agriculture sector
Niger’s agriculture sector employs nearly 85% of the population and accounts for nearly half of its gross domestic product. However, over the past two decades, due to frequent droughts and floods that decimate crops and livestock, much of the Nigerien population struggles to maintain a living through subsistence farming.
The country has been ranked near or at the bottom of worldwide indexes of the Human development index, GDP, and per capita income. Economic activity centres on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, re-export trade, and export of uranium. The 50% devaluation of the West African CFA franc in January, 1994 boosted exports of livestock, cowpeas, onions, and the products of Niger’s small cotton industry. Exports of cattle to neighboring Nigeria, as well as Groundnuts and their oil remain the primary non-mineral exports
“Niger needs to undertake agricultural production to replace imports of 800,000 tons of cereals which amount to 302 million Account Units. I am also urging my peers to take coordinated action at the continental level to build sustainable and resilient food systems to eliminate hunger and malnutrition,” said President Bazoum.
