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'''[[Agriculture]]''' is the primary economic activity of a majority of '''[[Niger]]''''s
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The agricultural economy is based largely upon internal markets, subsistence agriculture, and the export of raw commodities: food stuffs and cattle to neighbors. [[Niger]], a landlocked [[Sub-Sahara]] African nation, and over the past two decades has consistently 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%
==Overall economy==
Niger's economy is based largely on [[subsistence crop]]s, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. [[Drought]] cycles, [[desertification]], a 3.4% population growth rate and the drop in world demand for uranium have undercut an already marginal economy.<ref name=ussd2009 /> Traditional subsistence farming, herding, small trading, and informal markets dominate an economy that generates few formal sector jobs. Between 1988 and 1995 28% to 30% of the total economy of Niger was in the unregulated [[Informal sector]], including small and even large scale rural and urban production, transport and services.<ref>C. Maldonado & J. Gasarian. [http://www.oit.org/public/french/employment/ent/papers/niger.htm SECTEUR INFORMEL: FONCTIONS MACRO-ECONOMIQUES ET POLITIQUES GOUVERNEMENTALES: LE CAS DU NIGER]. Document de recherche S-INF-1-20. Département du développement des entreprises et des coopératives, Organisation internationale du Travail -- OIT (1998).</ref> Current GDP per capita is very low by world standards, in part explained through the involvement of a majority of the population in very [[small
▲Niger's economy is based largely on [[subsistence crop]]s, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. [[Drought]] cycles, [[desertification]], a 3.4% population growth rate and the drop in world demand for uranium have undercut an already marginal economy.<ref name=ussd2009 /> Traditional subsistence farming, herding, small trading, and informal markets dominate an economy that generates few formal sector jobs. Between 1988 and 1995 28% to 30% of the total economy of Niger was in the unregulated [[Informal sector]], including small and even large scale rural and urban production, transport and services.<ref>C. Maldonado & J. Gasarian. [http://www.oit.org/public/french/employment/ent/papers/niger.htm SECTEUR INFORMEL: FONCTIONS MACRO-ECONOMIQUES ET POLITIQUES GOUVERNEMENTALES: LE CAS DU NIGER]. Document de recherche S-INF-1-20. Département du développement des entreprises et des coopératives, Organisation internationale du Travail -- OIT (1998).</ref> Current GDP per capita is very low by world standards, in part explained through the involvement of a majority of the population in very small scale agriculture, which generates little monetary exchange.<ref>[http://earthtrends.wri.org/text/economics-business/variable-638.html earthtrends.wri.org]</ref>
==Geography==
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[[File:Niger ag land use map USGS.png|thumb|500px|center|Cropland Use Indicator, drawn from Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, for period
==Agriculture production==
[[File:Niger, Tcheringui (6), vegetable gardens.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Vegetable gardens near Birni N'Konni]]
[[Image:Niger millet Koremairwa 1214.jpg|thumb|right|
Niger's agricultural and livestock sectors are the mainstay of all but 18% of the population.<ref name=ussd2009 /> Fourteen percent of Niger's GDP is generated by livestock production (camels, goats, sheep and cattle), said to support 29% of the population. Thus 53% of the population is actively involved in crop production.<ref name=ussd2009 /> The 15% of Niger's land that is arable is found mainly along its southern border with Nigeria.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Niger Economy |url=https://www.historycentral.com/nationbynation/Niger/Economy.html#:~:text=The%2015%25%20of%20Niger%27s%20land,aid%20to%20meet%20food%20requirements. |access-date=2022-05-15 |website=www.historycentral.com}}</ref>
[[Pearl millet]], sorghum, and cassava are Niger's principal rain-fed subsistence crops. Irrigated rice for internal consumption, while expensive, has, since the devaluation of the CFA franc, sold for below the price of imported rice, encouraging additional production. Cowpeas and onions are grown for commercial export, as are small quantities of garlic, peppers, potatoes, and wheat.<ref name=ussd2009 />
==Drought and environmental degradation==
[[File:Niger, Boubon (11), weekly cattle market, donkeys.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Livestock market in Boubon]]
[[File:Niger,
Rainfall varies and when insufficient, Niger has difficulty feeding its population and must rely on grain purchases and food aid to meet food requirements.<ref name=ussd2009 /> Rains, as in much of the [[Sahel]], have been marked by annual variability. This has been especially true in the 20th century, with the [[Sahel drought|most severe drought on record]] beginning in the late 1960s and lasting, with one break, well into the 1980s. The long
Food shortfalls have also been caused by other factors. Market prices driven up by [[drought]] and a [[Overpopulation (animals)#Wild animal overpopulation|plague]] of [[desert locust]] in 2005–2006 caused [[2005–06 Niger food crisis|a major food crisis]] in parts of the nation.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}
Shortage of good farmland has led to a number of innovations to farm marginal, often [[laterite]] soils and soil degraded by [[overfarming]], wind, [[desertification]], and drought. Women in particular are often given poor plots of land (in inherited sections known as "''Gamana''") to garden, and have developed specific crops for poor soil and water conditions. These typically include ocra and malahiya. External organisations have tried introducing alternative crops, such as the fruit of the ''[[Ziziphus
==Market effects==
While Nigerien farmers are often dependent on the agricultural market for portions of their production and consumption, much of Nigerien farming is [[subsistence agriculture]] outside the marketplace.<ref name="Decalo1997" />
[[Macrotyloma geocarpum|Groundnuts]], and to a lesser degree [[Cotton]], introduced by former colonial power France in the 1930s and 1950s respectively, account for most of the world market for Nigerien industrial agriculture. Prior to the mass exploitation of uranium in the early 1970s, groundnut oil was the largest Nigerien export by worth.<ref name="Decalo1997" />
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==References==
{{Reflist
==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081019110424/http://www.ird.ne/ Institut de Recherche pour le Développement au Niger]: French government development office in Niger.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090212134408/http://www.dfid.gov.uk/countries/africa/Niger.asp United Kingdom Department of International Development:Niger].
*[
*[http://www.wto.org/english/theWTO_e/countries_e/niger_e.htm World Trade Organization MEMBER INFORMATION: Niger].
*[https://archive.today/20130113135514/http://go.worldbank.org/T29QRKFVQ0 The World Bank, Niger overview and resources].
*[http://www.resimao.org West African Agricultural Market Observer/Observatoire du Marché Agricole (RESIMAO)], a project of the West-African Market Information Network (WAMIS-NET), provides live market and commodity prices from fifty seven regional and local public agricultural markets across Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Togo, and Nigeria. Sixty commodities are tracked weekly. The project is run by the Benin Ministry of Agriculture, and a number of European, African, and United Nations agencies.
*[http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/27/17/38562965.pdf OECD / AEO 2007 Niger country study].
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