Niger Case Study

Question 1

What is Niger’s population like?

Answer 1

• According to the UN’s HDI, Niger is the poorest country on earth.
• 2.5 million out of 17 million have no secure source of food.
• Most of its population lives off subsistence crops from a small plot of infertile land.
• In August 2010, 12 million Nigerians faced serious food shortages.
• Aprox. 10% of children under 5 suffer accute malnutrition.
• Niger’s population is increasing by 3.9% each year, the world record.

Question 2

What are Niger’s land and conditions like?

Answer 2

• Only 12% of Niger’s land area recieves enough rain to sustain agriculture (by 2100, estimated to be nine left).
• Between 1990-2005, it lost 35% of its forest cover.
• Enormous pressure on resources because of overpopulation, e.g. 2 million tonnes of firewood are used/ year, twice the amount of naturanl replacement growth.

Question 3

Why is the population increasing so much?

Answer 3

• Average of 7.6 children/ woman (highest in the world)
• Ignorance and poor access to contraception
• Poverty (children are an economic advantage)
• Cultural issues like competition between wives
• Men in Niger tend to be polygamous, so families will be very large
• Famine and disease means higher infant mortality rate, so women have more children
• In 2012 only 12% of women used contraception
• Lack of education, e.g. in Zinder, a woman thought birth control would cause her hemorages