Author: Jane Barrett

In the second of three blogs, Jane Barrett meets the teams of Nigerien herders working to ensure they can buy and sell animals and grain at fair prices.

Children at work in Niger. Photo: Jane Barrett/Oxfam

The third day of our journey to Dakoro in the south of Niger is a big day, as food will be distributed to nomadic herders. The needs of these herders can’t be identified beforehand, as was the case yesterday with the villagers, so each will have to be asked about their situation before being allowed to buy the subsidised grains.

The herders have already gathered when we arrive in Kombila – some have been waiting here for several days. There are many Touaregs, with their swathes of turban, some of whom also have huge straw hats with ostrich tails. The herders know each other, so they’re asked to take responsibility in helping to identify those truly in need of help.

I talk with some widows hoping they will receive grain for free. One is Oma, 45, whose husband died when he fell in a well. “My animals have no food,” she says, explaining that they have to cut branches off trees to give them some leaves to eat. “You wouldn’t believe how thin my animals are unless you see it with your own eyes.” She too plans to go north, hoping that soon there will be rain.

In the afternoon we head to the animal market at Bermo. Many herders are forced to sell their animals to buy grain, but the lack of harvest has caused grain prices to surge, and the herders’ desperation to sell their animals means they get less grain for each animal they sell. Worse still, many herders cannot afford to wait on the market until their animals are sold, so intermediaries “offer to help”, often giving them an unfair price for their animals, unbeknown to the herders, and charging them a fee.

We are given an audience with the mayor, who tells us that AREN has done great work by setting up economic interest groups – teams of herders who are trying to reclaim the market from intermediaries, and ensure they get a fair price for their animals. These herders have taken classes and created a business plan which received the mayor’s blessing. Unfortunately the coup d’etat in February has put a hold on their plans, but they are hopeful that one day soon the administration will be cleared.

Also, AREN has given animals to some women to ensure they have a means to generate an income. Ouma Bermo, although grateful to have been chosen to receive some animals, says it has yet to generate an income for her, as she will only be able to sell the animals in September. For now she has received grain from AREN to feed them.

Herders are victims of a vicious speculative cycle. Now is the period in between harvests and the most difficult period for them, forcing them to sell animals in exchange for expensive grain. In September, when the harvest starts and they have grain, they will want to restock their animals. But because the supply of grain is high at that time of the year, they will get a low price for it, while the price of animals will have surged.

The economic group is hoping to buy the animals at the currently low prices, then sell them again in September, countering the speculative cycle. At the moment they don’t have the money – a lot of smiling and winking happens as they tell me this – but they hope to get it.

In the evening Ouma comes over with some friends who have also been following AREN’s evening courses. She wants to practice her French. For someone who is illiterate and whose mother tongue is Haussa, her courage and determination impress me. As the conversation of the other women drifts away from “conjugating the verb ‘to work’”, Ouma turns and, with the help of a flashlight, continues to read from her exercise book, occasionally gently corrected by her eight-year-old daughter.

Where we work: Niger

In the first of three blogs, Jane Barrett meets the herders selling their animals to buy grain, and Oxfam’s partners working to support them, during the West Africa food crisis.

A herd of cattle on the way to Dakoro. Photo: Jane Barrett

The dirt road towards Dakoro is a rollercoaster ride. I meet two people from our partner, AREN in Maradi, the commercial capital of Niger, and we set off north for the pastoral region. Among other things, AREN do food distribution and form economic groups in NIger. We pass herders with huge herds, mainly of goats or cattle. These, I’m told, are already sold and are being transported to Nigeria, a major buyer of Niger’s animals because they are of good stock and cheap at this time of year, when the herders don’t have enough to feed themselves, let alone their animals.

On our left we see a camp of nomadic herders. I approach carefully, as they tend to be shy. But this young mother of a boy and three girls, one of whom is a tiny baby, is forthright. Zainabu has come south from Amoules, about 80km north of Dakoro, in search of fodder for their animals (ten camels and six goats). Her husband is in town looking for work. They have had to sell many goats as there is no fodder. She and her family are planning to return to the north, which puzzles me, as there is even less fodder there. Later I’m told that there’s a reserve where herders often secretly take their animals to feed – at the risk of a huge fine.

We move on and pass a market, Sacabal, where Zainabu had sold her animals. The commercial traders, in their aviator sunglasses and slick tracksuits, are a stark contrast to the herders in their long cloaks and swathes of turban. Most of the animals are female – an indication that the herders are desperate to sell their animals, as they otherwise wouldn’t be selling their only reproductive capital. A member of our team, a vet we call “le docteur”, tells me that on a scale of 1 to 4 from weak/sick to strong/healthy, these animals rate a 1, as they are so emaciated.

As we drive further north, the landscape loses all its bush and becomes entirely sand. It’s hard for me to imagine that most years this is covered in fields of wheat and millet.

We arrive in Tascha Ibrahim just before sunset, with just enough time to set up camp. As nightfall comes, I’m relieved by the cool breeze after the 44 degrees we endured throughout the day, and I’m looking forward to sleeping under the stars.

The next day we wake up to the call to prayer. Today, hundreds of herders from the nearby villages are expected to descend upon Tascha Ibrahim to buy wheat and millet that AREN is selling at subsidised prices.

After breakfast we walk to the well, which is a buzz of activity. Some herders have been here since four in the morning to get their turn feeding their animals. Donkeys pull the water up while the women and children scurry to fill their yellow jerry cans.

A consensus must be reached among the herders about how to proceed. A prior survey identified those that were vulnerable and needing these grains at a reduced price. Elders have been chosen to confirm that herders are who they claim to be as they’re called up from the list of those eligible. The herders agree that the sale must happen in a calm and ordered way so that no disrespect is brought upon the village. Some dare to express the hope that more grains might be made available next time, and there’s a broad nod of agreement.

The herders wait all day in the sweltering heat as one-by-one they’re called from the list to pay for their grain. Some particularly vulnerable people, such as a widow and a blind girl, have been chosen to receive the grain for free.

At nightfall our partner finishes up and returns to the camp, where the villagers, full of gratitude, have produced an excellent meal.

Where we work: Niger