Growing hope with native plants in Niger

DW (English)

The revival of traditional plants in Niger and the Sahel region is improving the lives of women in rural communities, enhancing food security and reducing desertification.

Transcript

00:00 The women are skilled at plucking the leaves off the twisting branches of Jiga trees.

00:05 In the village of Danbuda, they're in demand.

00:09 The women can harvest the leaves all year round,

00:12 using them to cook or to sell at the market in the nearby town of Zinda.

00:18 Before, we used to go into the bush to cut wood that we could sell to buy food.

00:25 Then one day I went to Zinda for a funeral and my relatives took me to Sahara Sahel Foods

00:31 in their neighborhood and told me that they buy adobo fruit desert dates.

00:36 So I started selling these to them.

00:39 People at home laughed at me. Why would anyone buy adobo fruit?

00:43 But then two others joined me. Now 40 women do it too.

00:48 The idea is to harvest and market native wild plants came from Joseph Garvey.

00:54 He grew up in Niger and had long been thinking about the benefits of reviving native dryland trees

00:59 such as the wild Hanza species.

01:02 They used to have Hanza, they used to eat Hanza, but only in times of hardship.

01:08 So when we started working with them, we started buying their Hanza.

01:11 At first they were reluctant, they didn't think we were serious,

01:14 but they realized that we were actually serious, we were actually buying it,

01:17 and they got involved in harvesting a lot of Hanza and delivering to us.

01:21 And they became very happy from the extra income they could make.

01:25 But we weren't quite satisfied because they were harvesting in order to sell us,

01:29 but they were still considering it something that they'd rather not eat themselves.

01:33 Now they've started to change their minds.

01:36 As a social enterprise, Sahara Sahel Foods raises awareness in local communities

01:41 about native trees that can provide nutritious leaves, fruits and seeds,

01:46 and they've learned to appreciate them.

01:48 A few years ago we had a special training program,

01:51 and we were showing them different recipes, different ways of preparing Hanza,

01:55 making nice dishes, nice meals from it.

01:59 And that really struck on.

02:02 So the year after, they said that they had very little Hanza to sell us.

02:07 And the reason, they said, was that, well, basically,

02:10 now they were eating the Hanza themselves,

02:13 so instead of selling it to us, they'd rather keep it for their own needs.

02:18 Exactly the result he'd wanted.

02:21 Sahara Sahel Foods has been active in the Zinda region since 2014,

02:26 and these days works with 1,500 small farmers and 80 villagers.

02:31 They supply various fruits and leaves from over 20 local plant species,

02:36 which are then used to produce oil, jam, spices and pastry.

02:41 60 products are now sold around Niger, and some of them are also exported.

02:47 Up until today, many people thought that these bush foods are just local stuff

02:52 and don't have any particular value.

02:55 They forgot about them because they just grow wild in the bush.

02:59 But now people have begun to understand that our products are useful.

03:02 For example, doctors at Sandia National Hospital

03:05 prescribe foods from our shops, such as Hanza porridge, which helps diabetics.

03:12 Sahara Sahel Foods' cookery courses are popular.

03:16 Today, instructor Hawa Habu is showing the women what they can do with Hanza fruit.

03:24 It has a high protein content.

03:27 We have taught them a lot of things, such as how to cook Hanza with sauce made from horn-fruited jute,

03:40 which they didn't know, Hanza porridge, which they didn't know either,

03:45 and Jujube pulp biscuits.

03:48 Basically, we taught them a lot of recipes.

03:51 Joseph Garvey learned a lot from his Norwegian father.

03:59 Arne Garvey was a young man when he emigrated to Niger with his wife.

04:05 He began collecting seeds from indigenous plants and resowing them using a direct seeding method.

04:10 Sahara Sahel Foods successfully replanted 160 local varieties in this way.

04:17 The farmers followed suit.

04:20 Here in the commune of Dago, 35 kilometers from Zinda,

04:23 many of the trees were planted by the farmers themselves.

04:27 The whole idea of direct seeding is that you can teach to the farmers,

04:32 and then the farmers can teach each other.

04:35 And then once you get what we call the WPC economy established,

04:43 it will have its own momentum.

04:46 And I would like to inspire people not only here, but all over the world,

04:52 to use their indigenous perennials.

04:56 Joseph Garvey also teaches at the University of Zinda.

05:02 He works together with Dr. Abdou Rabou.

05:04 The topic of local wild plants is also on his curriculum

05:08 and has regularly been sending students to train with the enterprise since 2018.

05:13 The Sahara Sahel Foods site has become a training ground for our students.

05:20 It's where they go to learn about the plants

05:23 that are most often found in arid and semi-arid zones here in Niger.

05:28 After 10 years in the Zinda region, Garvey's project is flourishing.

05:32 Many smallholder farming families are now experts on various local tree varieties

05:38 and how to care for them, and are passing their insights on to their children.

05:42 You know a child will watch you from a very young age.

05:49 My daughter understands that it's with the income from these efforts

05:53 that she will be able to grow up.

05:56 That it's with the income from these efforts that we'll buy them certain items.

06:00 So she follows in our footsteps, and that's why from time to time she sows trees too.

06:07 Damila Yusuf has a regular income and can feed her family well.

06:13 She's even been able to build her own house.

06:16 The small seeds have borne fruit.

06:19 route.

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