Opportunities and Challenges of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Niamey, Niger

Abstract

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) provide about 10% of the global food supply and have a significant potential to reduce poverty and increase food security in urban households. To characterize UPA types and intensities and to assess their resource use efficiencies, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 130 households actively involved in UPA in Niamey, Niger. The survey data indicated high use of livestock manure for vegetable gardening and to a lesser extent for the production of staple food. The UPA livestock component depended heavily on the supply of live animals and feed from the rural hinterland. The application of organic and inorganic fertilizers in combination with the indiscriminate use of nutrient-loaded wastewater for irrigation purposes led to important nutrient surpluses in UPA gardens. First calculations of partial nutrient balances indicated that gaseous emission of nitrogenous compounds as well as leaching of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the groundwater might be large. Insect attack and the lack of irrigation water or high labour needs for irrigation were identified respectively as major constraints to UPA gardening activities. Despite this, gardening proved to be the most economically beneficial occupation of the three main UPA activities. Lack of workforce and lack of cash to hire labour and purchase inputs constituted major constraints to millet farmers, as against soil fertility, which, in contrast to researchers, only a few farmers viewed as a major problem.