ENG - UN CC:Learn

ALGERIA
LIBYA
AFRICA
NIGER
MDG7
Progress Towards Environmental Sustainability
BURKINA
Environmental degradation in Niger is largely due to over-use of wood as FASO
NIGERIA
BENIN
CAMEROON
a principal source of energy, erosion, mismanagement of solid and household
waste, as well as pollution mainly caused by the industry sector. Desertification and droughts also pose a
difficult challenge to achieving environmental sustainability in the country.
Niger has 5 protected areas to preserve its biodiversity, which represents 6.6% of the total land surface area. In 2000,
around 52% of the population had access to safe drinking water. Between 1991 and 2000, the rate of water coverage
declined rapidly due to an increase in water demand, triggered by a rapid population growth rate.
In Niger, 40% of the population lives in slums, where housing is unsafe and poorly constructed and does not satisfy the minimum
requirements of comfort, security and hygiene. It is not so much poverty, however, that has led to these slum dwelling conditions.
Lack of property ownership and unequal social conditions are major factors in the problem of slum dwellers in Niger.
Challenges to achieving MDG 7 for environmental sustainability in Niger include: desertification, deforestation, weak coordination
of development initiatives among several sectors, lack of public environmental awareness, lack of natural and financial resources,
especially at the local level, and rapid population growth, which has also exacerbated poverty levels. 1
MALI
Niamey
Maradi
NIGER
Zinder
CHAD
QUICK FACTS
CURRENT PORTFOLIO BUDGET
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $2,175,187
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $2,569,433
Total MPU and Bilateral: $15,455
Total: $4,760,075
Cumulative Total ODS Phased-Out:
5.8 ODP tonnes
Local People Given Rights and Responsibilities to Manage Their Land 2
SPOTLIGHT
Like many Africa countries, most people in Niger derive their livelihoods from the natural
resources of the land. However, the communities in this arid country are affected by a high
incidence of absolute poverty, increasingly rapid land degradation, and high rates of population
growth.
Since 2000, UNDP’s Drylands Development Centre, in collaboration with a number of partners
and donors, including DANIDA, Fonds Belges de Survie, the UN Capital Development Fund, and
the World Food Programme, have been supporting Niger in developing and implementing an
integrated drylands development programme that addresses local development, poverty alleviation,
and the governance of natural resources. One component of the programme has established COFO
“Commission Foncière”, a team of trained people that work with local institutions to assist land use planning and solving problems
related to land tenure. In Mayahi and N’guigmi, located in the central and eastern parts of the country where the programme
is being implemented, COFO is generating, collecting and disseminating information, while raising awareness on topics
of land ownership and ecological stewardship; delineating pastoral and agricultural spaces; making natural resource inventories;
assessing the allocation of property rights while taking into account formal and customary tenure systems; recording
land transactions, and delivering land titles.
LAND
COFOs’ work has helped resolve disputes within and between communities, and has provided farmers with adequate tenure
security while strengthening their capacity in natural resource management.
90