La petite irrigation par les eaux souterraines, une solution durable contre la pauvreté et les crises alimentaires au Niger ?

Abstract

poverty and food crises in Niger? In Sahelian countries, the development of irrigated agriculture is one of the solutions to avoid repetitive food crises. Considering south-western Niger as a regional case study, this paper demonstrates that increasing low-cost groundwater irrigation represents a long-term solution, using shallow, unconfined perennial groundwater, widely distributed in this region. Groundwater resources and soil characteristics were described and localized in space, quantified in volume and/or surface area, and their longterm potential estimated as a function of updated datasets. Data analysis demonstrates that ∼50,000 to 160,000 ha (3 to 9%of present-day cultivated areas) could be turned into small irrigated fields using accessible shallow groundwater (water table depth ≤ 20 m). This would double the regional capacity for irrigation.