CARE in Niger

Niger is the poorest country in the world and one of the most sparsely populated. Less than half the population has access to safe water and only 29 per cent of the adult population can read and write.

In Niger we:

improve agriculture, for example teaching farmers new farming techniques
fight HIV and AIDS
improve health care

During the food crisis in 2005, we worked directly with the Nigerien government to hand out emergency food. Now, we are running a new food crisis early warning system jointly with the government and several research organisations.

The system brings together information gathered by the community, government and private monitoring agencies to give a clearer picture of the drought situation.

CARE in action:

Women's savings and loans
Our ground-breaking Mata Masu Dubara project (MMD, means, ‘ingenious women') trains women to save and pool their money in groups so they can use it as a buffer against hard times.

Many also take out loans to start small businesses, such as buying seeds to plant crops to eat and to sell, so they can work their way out of poverty.

Earning a decent living
Today, as most Nigeriens are subsistence farmers struggling against a harsh climate, we focus on helping vulnerable people develop skills to survive the increasing threat of drought. We help farmers find other means of income such as gardening vegetables so they do not have to rely on selling crops of millet and sorghum which hardly ever provides a viable income.

We also help to make the arid land more productive by planting trees and laying rock lines to trap water.