Categories
Niger
Key facts
Hazards covered by anticipation
Drought | Floods
Anticipation partners in country
Niger Red Cross | Belgian Red Cross | French Red Cross | Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre | Spanish Red Cross | Community Early Warning and Emergency Response System | Vulnerability Monitoring Observatory | Ministry of Humanitarian Action and Disaster Management | Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock | National Food Crisis Preparation and Management System | Civil protection agencies
Inform Risk Index (2022)
Hazard and exposure: 7.3
Vulnerability: 7.3
Lack of coping capacity: 7.6
Total: 7.4 (very high)
Rank: 8
Experience on Anticipation
- In August 2022, the Niger Red Cross Society activated its EAP for Floods. This released 250,000 Swiss francs from the Anticipatory Action Pillar of the IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund to act ahead of forecast floods.
- In September 2022, the UN released 9.5 million US dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help mitigate the impacts of the rainfall deficit experienced in parts of the country.
Photo: Niger Red Cross / IFRC
Country profile
Niger is a landlocked, low-income country in the Sahel. Nearly 80 per cent of the population lives in rural areas and relies on agriculture and pastoralism, which are highly dependent on - and therefore vulnerable to - variations in water availability and seasonal rainfall. As a result, the most significant natural hazards in Niger are floods and drought.
Niger is among the countries most at risk from drought worldwide. Drought conditions and water scarcity during crucial stages of the growing season, as well as the repeated occurrence of shocks, are a major cause of low agricultural productivity and yields, crop damage and low livestock productivity. All of these result in food insecurity. During severe droughts, several million people have been left in need of food assistance. Niger also experiences widespread desertification, which further hampers agriculture-dependent livelihoods.
Floods are concentrated in the south and west of the country, along the Niger River and its tributaries, with the western part of Niger having the highest flood risk. The impacts include loss of life, agricultural losses, and critical damage to infrastructure and housing in urban areas. The upper catchments of the Niger River also increasingly face problems with soil erosion and land degradation.
In addition to floods and drought, storms, heat waves, locust infestations and wildfires all affect parts of Niger.
Projects
Since 2019, the Niger Red Cross, with support from the French Red Cross and the Climate Centre, has been developing an Early Action Protocol (EAP) for Drought as an integral component of a project to build community resilience against food insecurity, called 'Strengthening the resilience of populations in the face of periods of food and nutritional insecurity in the region of Zinder'.
The Niger Red Cross developed an EAP for Floods in the Dosso and Zinder regions, with support from the Belgian Red Cross.
In 2019, WFP began supporting the development of seasonal forecasts, triggers and early actions for drought in the Zinder region (Dogo commune). It is coordinating with the Niger Red Cross and FAO.
FAO is working to support early actions for drought in Niger.
