Satara, Niger — In the bustling village of Satara, Haruna Badjie was once just another farmer struggling to make a living amid environmental and ecological crises. Climate change had ravaged the once‑fertile landscapes, leaving them barren and unproductive. For Haruna and many others, the only hope for a better life seemed to lie in migrating to greener pastures.
That outlook changed when the World Food Programme (WFP) introduced a revolutionary community‑based asset creation program aimed at restoring the ecosystem and assisting Niger’s poorest communities. The intervention creates productive assets through a land‑restoration program that uses the half‑moon technique to revive vegetation on previously arid lands. This method involves digging crescent‑shaped basins that help parched, degraded soils retain rainwater longer. The excavated soil is then deposited on the downhill edges of each basin, forming terrace systems that distribute water evenly and support surrounding vegetation. The technique has proven successful in restoring degraded lands and promoting sustainable land‑use practices.
In addition to land‑recovery measures, the program includes support activities that enhance community resilience and environmental sustainability. One key component is market gardening—a sustainable agricultural practice that involves small‑scale production of high‑nutritional‑value crops such as fruits, vegetables, and herbs for sale or consumption. Through these initiatives, the WFP is building livelihoods, boosting resilience to ecosystem degradation, and restoring ecological balance. In an area once plagued by deforestation, over‑cultivation, and overgrazing, the WFP’s land‑restoration activities have transformed the landscape, bringing back biodiversity and reviving previously dead vegetation.
For Haruna, the program has been life‑changing. He no longer needs to travel to Benin in search of work; instead, he can thrive in Satara thanks to the WFP’s promotion of market gardening and increased land productivity. “Being a farmer, I was identified by the project managers of WFP as one of the most vulnerable individuals in the village. I used to travel to Benin in search of work, but it was not sufficient to support my needs. When I learned about the WFP program, I stopped going to Benin and started concentrating on market gardening activities here,” he said.
However, the impending lean season threatens to undermine much of the progress achieved so far. Consequently, Cindy McCain, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies in Rome, is calling for additional donor support for Niger’s food security. She emphasizes that urgent and reliable assistance is needed to help the Government of Niger and its partners address the root causes of hunger and implement long‑term reforms for women, men, and children affected by the food crisis.
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