Niger has the highest fertility rate in the world, estimated at almost 5 children per woman, or possibly even higher. Much is happening to bring that down below replacement (2.1) and prepare to stabilize the population at a sustainable level. Much is also happening to prevent it.
The Problem
As indicated in the graph above, in 60 years the population of Niger has gone from 3 million to 22 million. Many organizations and countries are attempting to help, so far without bending the growth curve downward at all.
Fewer children, fewer climate risks? Niger ponders a controversial option
Abdulaziz, Aminatu, Absatu, Abdulmanaf. Fahad. And, well, also Mansour. They are the names Zeinab Garba has in mind for any future children she has.
But for now the mother of two has decided to set aside plans for more offspring by using a contraceptive, to give a better future to Rachid, her restless 3-year-old boy, and her newborn son Bilyaminou, mostly a passionate sleeper for now.
In a country with the world’s highest birth rate per woman, hers is an uncommon move and, to some, a controversial one.
But environmentalists and youth activists in Niger hope it is one more families will embrace, to help reduce threats from the destructive effects of a changing climate.
This ↟↟↟↟↟
But a national budget of 200 million FCFA ($340,000) for purchasing contraceptives doesn’t go far enough, said Salamatou Traore, president of the Coalition of Stakeholders for the Repositioning of Family Planning in Niger.
As ever, you can help, and you can work on getting others to help.
Niger Education
Educating girls is known to be the most effective method of reducing excessive population growth. Ending child marriages of girls as young as nine also helps, of course, and then allows the girls to go to school.
Education in Niger—Wikipedia
Education in Niger, like that in other developing nations, particularly in the Sahelian region of Africa, faces challenges from poverty and poor access to schools. Although education is compulsory between the ages of seven and fifteen, Niger has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world.[1][2]
The World Bank cites the UNESCO Institute for Statistics' current estimate of primary school enrollment at 71%, though this figure is inflated because it counts the many overage children who are still in primary school.
Some schools in Niger are trying a new approach to bring more girls into classrooms. However, there remains a disparity between the enrollment of boys and girls: from 51.57% and 48.43% in the first year for boys and girls, respectively. The enrollment decreases to 46.31% for girls by the end of primary school based on 2010 statistics.[5]
Niger
Literacy Rate: 13.6%
Educational Enrollment Rate: |
Primary: 29% |
|
Secondary: 7% |
Schooling is free in Niger, but many areas do not have a school and, as a result, Niger has one of the lowest literacy rates in West Africa. Most of Niger's adults cannot read or write, and the literacy rate is only 13.6 percent. However, facilities are being expanded with aid from France and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with the hope of correcting this problem.
Niger Family Planning
Niger: Commitment Maker Since 2012
A commitment maker since 2012 and a member of both the Ouagadougou Partnership and SWEDD (Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend project), Niger set itself the ambitious goal of reaching 50% mCPR [modern contraception prevalence rate] by 2020. Data however shows that the goal may have been too ambitious and will most likely not be met, with an all-women mCPR estimate of 15.6% in 2018.
They developed a nine-year Strategy, which needed to be reviewed in 2017, adjusting it to improve the slow momentum that exists in Niger, where the larger population still envisions very large families (10+ children) as a norm. Niger has put its focus on task shifting and a minimum service package for family planning through community based approach, broadening the method choice to its clients.
The country looks to the private sector for financial support implementing its national health strategy, of which 15% will be allocated to youth-specific FP interventions. With the support of SWEDD, the country continues to invest in ‘husband-schools’ (les ecoles des maris), focusing on social behavior change strategies.
Niger Faces Five Key Family Planning Challenges
The Ouagadougou Partnership is nearing the end of its 2015-2020 acceleration phase. This alliance of nine West African countries set an ambitious goal to reach 2.2 million new women and girls with modern contraceptives during those five years. So far, they’ve reached over 1.8 million.
- Health service integration, or the practice of intentionally linking multiple health services
- Domestic funding
- Trained health workers
- Contraceptive supply chain
- The security situation
Niger Economy
Less Is More in Niger
The rate of population growth exceeds economic growth in Niger.
They say the simplest solution is often the best one. That is the hope of Nigerien officials and members of the international community who are betting on voluntary family planning programs to combat the myriad social and economic problems threatening the future of the West African nation.
Economy of Niger
Niger, a landlocked West African nation that straddles the Sahel, has consistently been ranked on the bottom of the Human development index, with a relatively low GDP and per capita income, and ranks among the least developed and most heavily indebted countries in the world, despite having large raw commodities and a relatively stable government and society not currently affected by civil war or terrorism. Economic activity centers 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 oil remain the primary non-mineral exports. The government relies on bilateral and multilateral aid – which was suspended briefly following coups d'état in 1996 and 1999 – for operating expenses and public investment. Short-term prospects depend on continued World Bank and IMF debt relief and extended aid. The post 1999 government has broadly adhered to privatization and market deregulation plans instituted by these funders.
Current GDP per capita[14] of Niger grew 10% in the 1960s. But this proved unsustainable and it consequently shrank by 27% in the 1980s and a further 48% in the 1990s. Much of this GDP is explained through the exploitation of uranium at Arlit in the far north of the country. Ore is partially processed on site by foreign mining corporations and transported by truck to Benin. Fluctuation of GDP can be mapped to changes in international uranium price, as well as price negations with the main mining company, France's Orano Cycle. Price rises in the mid-1970s were followed by a collapse in the market price through much of the 1980s and 1990s. Thus the GDP per capita has little direct impact on the average Nigerien, although uranium funds much government operation. The 2006 Human Development Index ranked Niger sixth from worst in the world, with a HDI of 0.370: 174 of 179 nations.[15]
Exploitable deposits of gold are known to exist in Niger in the region between the Niger River and the border with Burkina Faso. Substantial deposits of phosphates, coal, iron, limestone, and gypsum also have been found. Numerous foreign companies, including American firms, have taken out exploration licenses for concessions in the gold seam in western Niger, which also contains deposits of other minerals.
The most important donors in Niger are France, the European Union, the World Bank, the IMF and other United Nations agencies (UNDP, UNICEF, FAO, WFP, and UNFPA). Other principal donors include the United States, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. While USAID does not have an office in Niger, the United States is a major donor, contributing nearly $10 million each year to Niger's development. The U.S. also is a major partner in policy coordination in such areas as food security and HIV/AIDS. The importance of external support for Niger's development is demonstrated by the fact that about 45% of the government's FY 2002 budget, including 80% of its capital budget, derives from donor resources.In 2005 the UN drew attention to the increased need for foreign aid given severe problems with drought and locusts resulting in a famine endangering the lives around a million people.
Mean wages were $0.37 per man-hour in 2008.
In December 2005, it was announced that Niger had received 100% multilateral debt relief from the IMF, which translates into the forgiveness of approximately US$86 million in debts to the IMF, excluding the remaining assistance under HIPC. Nearly half of the government's budget is derived from foreign donor resources. Future growth may be sustained by exploitation of oil, gold, coal, and other mineral resources. Uranium prices have recovered somewhat in the last few years. A drought and locust infestation in 2005 led to food shortages for as many as 2.5 million Nigeriens.
Niger does not have an economic growth rate in the usual sense, because GDP variation, based mainly on fluctuating prices for uranium exports, is decoupled from the life of most citizens and from other forms of industrialization.
Niger Energy
Several oil companies explored for petroleum since 1992 in the Djado plateau in north-eastern Niger and the Agadem basin, north of Lake Chad but made no discoveries worth developing at the time. In June 2007, however, China National Petroleum Corporation (state-owned by the People's Republic of China) signed a US$5 billion agreement to extract oil in the Agadem block, as well as build a 20,000 barrels (3,200 m3) per day oil refinery and a 2,000 km oil pipeline in the country; production is expected to start in 2009.[18]
Niger's known coal reserves, with low energy and high ash content, cannot compete against higher quality coal on the world market. However, the parastatal SONICHAR (Société nigérienne de charbon) in Tchirozerine (north of Agadez) extracts coal from an open pit and fuels an electricity generating plant that supplies energy to the uranium mines.
- electrification: total population: 15% (2013)
- electrification: urban areas: 62% (2013)
- electrification: rural areas: 4% (2013)
- Electricity – production: 494.7 million kWh (2016 est.)
- Electricity – production by source (2017):
-
fossil fuel: 95%
- renewable: 5%
- nuclear: 0%
- other: 0%
Niger - Electricity and renewable energy
Niger suffers from a weak GDP (USD 7.143 billion in 2015; around 0.01 percent of the world economy), and according to the World Bank only 14.4% of the population has access to electricity. In order to face the challenge of its growing population, Niger is encouraging the development of renewable energy technologies.
The existing power infrastructure is underdeveloped, and the country continues to rely heavily on imported electricity from neighboring Nigeria. Energy production in Niger is dominated by biomass which represents almost 80% of the total energy consumed, compared to less than 1% for other sources of renewable energy, including solar and wind. Households are the main consumer of energy, representing approximately 90% of total energy consumption of the country, with transport representing around 8%, and industry, agriculture and trade representing around 2% together.
The development of the renewables sector has been slow, despite the government’s approval of a 2004 National Strategy on Renewable Energy which aimed to increase the share of renewable energies (biomass excluded) in the national energy balance from less than 0.1% in 2003 to 10% in 2020..
However, results may finally come as International Financial Institutions have recently taken steps to encourage the development of energy in Niger, including:
- in December 2015 , the World Bank approved an International Development Association credit of USD 54.5 million and a grant of USD 10.5 million to increase access to electricity in Niger; and
- in July 2016, the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa awarded a USD 994.270 grant for the promotion of green mini-grids in Niger.
In this context, Niger also recently took important steps to rationalise its legal framework:
- the Energy Sector Regulatory Authority was created in December 2015;
- a new Electricity Code was enacted in May 2016; and
- in September 2016, three important decrees were adopted under the Electricity Code:
- the first fixing the conditions of third parties’ access to the grid;
- the second specifying the tariffs applicable to the electricity sector; and
- the third laying down the terms and conditions of delegation agreements (conventions de delegation) and the award of importation, exportation and transport licenses.
Niger has excellent opportunities to make use of renewable energy (especially solar power). In the short term, given the lack of infrastructure (including a national power grid), the development of mini-grid projects could be a relevant option.
Based on other experiences in Sub-Saharan Africa, the development, construction and financing of significant renewable power projects will be challenging but possible provided that they benefit from political support, and are developed by experienced sponsors aware of the complexities of doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Niger Health Care
Niger: Country profile—WHO
Ranking the second to last on the UNDP Human Poverty Index Scale, Niger suffers from endemic poverty: over 60% of the country’s 11.5 million people live with less than $1 per day. Life expectancy is 46 and the adult literacy rate is 17%. In spite of some progress in the health and education sectors, progress towards the UN Millennium development goals is slow and difficult.
- Infant and under-five mortality rates are 156 and 265 per 100,000 live births respectively. Nationwide, 40% of under-five children suffer from malnutrition, 40% suffer from stunting and 14% from wasting. Only 2% of children aged less than four months are exclusively breastfed.
- The situation of women is characterized by the highest fertility rate in the region (8 children per woman), a wide gender gap in terms of health, education and literacy and a high maternal mortality rate at 1,600/100,000 live births (UNDP 2004). Only 16% of births take place in health facilities and 15% with skilled attendance.
- Regular outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases (measles, meningitis) and of water-borne and diarrhoeal diseases (cholera, shigellosis, typhoid) are reported. Acute respiratory infections, vector-borne diseases (malaria, yellow fever, African sleeping sickness, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis), tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are important public health problems in the country.
Niger Human Rights
Human rights in Niger—Wikipedia
According to the Republic of Niger's Constitution of 1999, most human rights, as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are upheld and protected. Despite these protections, concerns of both domestic and international human rights organizations have been raised over the behavior of the government, military, police forces, and over the continuation of traditional practices which contravene the 1999 constitution. Under French colonial rule (1900–1960) and from independence until 1992, citizens of Niger had few political rights, and lived under arbitrary government power. Although the situation has improved since the return to civilian rule, criticisms remain over the state of human rights in the country.
Current concerns
The involvement of the military in politics has historically led to regular, if infrequent, arbitrary arrest and detention, use of excessive force, torture, and extra-judicial killing by security forces and police. The judiciary has historically suffered from poor jail and prison conditions, prolonged pretrial detention, and executive interference in the judiciary. While all these have improved dramatically since the return to civilian rule, international human rights organizations continue to report sporadic incidents of all these abuses. Post-1999 there has been a marked improvement of civilian control of security forces, with the United States State Department contending every year since 2001 that the military was under civilian control.[6]
Niger Corruption
Niger—Transparency International
Corruption Perceptions Index 2019
Rank 120 / 180
Score 32 / 100
See Also
The Challenge Initiative: Francophone West Africa
Foreign relations of Niger
It is a charter member of the Organization of African Unity and the West African Monetary Union and also belongs to the Niger Basin Authority and the Lake Chad Basin Commission, the Economic Community of West African States, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Niger belongs to the United Nations and its main specialized agencies and in 1980-81 served on the UN Security Council. The first president of Niger, Hamani Diori, maintained close relations with the west and became internationally prominent in his diplomatic work, seeking to broker resolutions to conflicts in Africa and beyond. He was particularly prominent in his involvement as a negotiator during the Nigerian Civil War.[1]
Niger in International Organizations—Peace Insight
Too many to list here, but this is worth noting.
UN Women implements programmes tailored to individual countries throughout Africa. Its strategies support women's participation in decision-making, leadership development and skills training.
Muslim men buy child brides as young as nine in Niger
The source of the image at the top of this Diary.
Big money for Niger's child brides—BBC
Niger has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, and is struggling to stop the practice, writes the BBC's Fergal Keane.
About 24% of girls will be married by the time they are 15. That rises to nearly 80% by the age of 18. It is a social phenomenon that affects all significant ethnic groups in Niger, including the majority Hausa community.
News of the Day
WHAT: Press Conference in Sacramento,CA.
WHEN: 11:00 a.m., Friday, February 14th, 2020
WHO: Elected Officials to Protect California
Mayor Rex Parris, City of Lancaster
Mayor Randall Stone, City of Chico
Mayor Brett Lee, City of Davis
Supervisor Monica Brown, Solano County District 2
Councilmember Felipe Perez, City of Firebaugh
Councilmember Ann Schneider, City of Millbrae
Councilmember Gleam Davis, City of Santa Monica
Additional Local California elected officials
Visual and Interview Opportunities Include:
About Elected Officials to Protect California:
Elected Officials to Protect California is a statewide, non-partisan network of hundreds of California elected officials from nearly every county across the state committed to protecting communities, public health, and climate for all they represent. The network strongly urges Governor Newsom to outline a plan to move California beyond the fossil fuel industry to ensure a safe, healthy, and prosperous state for all Californians.”