Niger

Life in Niger

Niger’s short rainy season and the rate of growth in population are just some of the reasons for widespread hunger – 58% of the population (13.1 million people) don’t have enough food to eat and nearly half of children aged under-five suffer from chronic malnutrition.

Almost half of the population of Niger live below the International Poverty Line of $1.90 per day.  Vulnerable children neglect school to beg or steal food and are often sent to overcrowded remand centres where they spend long periods awaiting trial. Many of them have never even set foot in a classroom. 

In Niger, more than 1,6 million children are out of school. 

Niger is a land-locked country (one of the largest) in West Africa, named after the Niger river with over 80% of its land located in the Sahara Desert, making it one of the world’s hottest nations. Niger sits on some of the largest uranium deposits on the planet but is in great poverty and debt. The economy is based on subsistence agriculture and the export of raw commodities – main exports include oilseeds, mineral fuels and chemicals.

The country’s official languages are French and Arabic, but more than half the population speak Hausa.  The majority of the country is Muslim, with a population of around 22 million who are located in the far south and west of Niger. Men in Niger tend to be described as the breadwinners in society while women take on the cooking, act as caregivers for their children and older relatives, and do the domestic work.  Marriages are usually arranged by the parents in both rural and urban communities.