Introducing Niger
With the Ténéré Desert boasting some of the Sahara’s most beautiful dunes, the stark splendour of the Aïr Mountains being one of West Africa’s most spectacular sights, and the intriguing, ancient trans-Saharan trade-route towns of Agadez and Zinder playing home to magnificent mazes of mudbrick architecture and fascinating locals, the international appeal of Niger as a destination is undeniable.
Odd then, that friends often ask prospective travellers ‘Why Niger?’. Press regarding Niger’s problems with localised food shortages dominates headlines and paints the entire nation in the same poor light. Some news reports would have you believe that locusts and drought regularly destroy Niger’s entire food supply. In reality, crop production rarely falls more than 10% lower than average. In one reported ‘famine’ food was still available in most markets; the problem was that nomadic herders lost much of their livestock (their only income) due to locusts eating their livestock’s food supplies. This meant herders couldn’t afford the available food, putting millions at risk of starvation. Niger is undoubtedly one of the world’s poorest countries, but taking your tourist dollars elsewhere only exacerbates the problem.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Woman carrying plastic buckets near mud brick village walls and nuzzling goats.
- Johnny Haglund
- Lonely Planet photographer
