Sahel is the name of the savannah district just south of the Sahara desert in North-Africa. Because of the dry climate only plants like millet and sorghum can be cultivated. Moreover, the amounts of rain vary from one year to another, which means that the area suffers from drought catastrophes with irregular intervals when the rainfall has been more limited than usual. In 1973 such a catastrophe occurred which was noticed also in our northern countries, and after this many initiatives were taken to prevent the population from being struck so hard in the future. Many projects have been started to prevent desertification, and today there is also a monitoring system to enable assistance in time; a system that has proved useful.One of the projects against desertification initiated from the West was Projet Tapis Vert in Niger (the country that suffered most from the drought in 1973).
One fifth of the area of Niger has Sahel climate, e. g. consists of savannah where certain crops can be cultivated, such as millet and sorghum. The arable land is found in two areas: along the river in the west and close to lake Chad in the east. Along the river even rice fields are found.
The size of the population in 1990 was 7,7 million (UNICEF), and of these 3,9 million were under the age of 16.
The gross national income per capita in Niger in 1989 was 290 US dollars (UNICEF). The national income is not growing but sank in the 80's by 1,5% per year on average.
The food production covered 100% of the calculated caloric need in 1988. The risk of drought means that the food production varies much from one year to another (in 1984 the crop was 1,08 million tons, in 1985 it was 1,83 million tons according to FAO). The variations for the different parts of the country are also great. At drought the north-eastern parts close to the desert are struck first.
The valley of Chikal is an area in the western part of Niger. It is situated 17 km from the main village of Filingué and belongs to the district, where the capital Niamey is situated. In the valley of Chikal itself there are five villages, and the biggest, Chyniassou, is very big for the rural area with its 3 000 to 4 000 inhabitants. Totally there are about 6 000 inhabitants in the five villages. Chyniassou has a school and a dispensary. The dispensary was built in the beginning of the 80's and in the summer 1987 the first graduate nurse arrived.
Chikal is situated in a border district close to the desert.
According to INRAN (1984) it is an area, where the ecological balance has been disturbed, and it is characterised by soils of varying quality not suited for agriculture. The amount of rain is low (250 to 300 mm/year), the agricultural production is monotonous, the agricultural techniques are poor, and there is a pronounced deforestation.
One morning a week is reserved for weighing children. One afternoon a week is reserved for the demonstration of cooking additional food. This gruel is fed to the children from a jug. They warn mothers from using teat bottles. Also, I did not see any teat bottles in Chikal during this study. After the demonstration, CSM (Corn Soy Milk) is distributed and which is mixed with water to become a drink.
One afternoon a week is reserved for visits in the homes. The nurse visits people in the villages. This enables him to check if cost advice etc. for malnourished children are followed.
When the researchers made contact with the authorities in Niger, INRAN had just been established. It's different branches of instruction, such as ecology, rural economy, forestry, zoo technology, animal care, and agriculture meant that this institute was the best with which to co-operate. The research group established one NGO (non-governmental organisation) called ISAID, with residence in Canada, and another called SRD, with residence in the USA. An agreement was signed between ISAID and INRAN in 1977. The aim of the agreement was to work out pilot projects based on a fundamental study of the physical bases. They decided to have a methodology of investigation resulting in propositions that were ecologically correct and vigorous. Finally their goal was to train a team that could realise the results of their work.
In order to carry out all of this, they chose four disciplines for the project: 1) agriculture, 2) restoration of land, 3) applied technique, and 4) social activities (literacy, public health, nutrition). All parts of the project are supposed to interact and to hold together.
In the first phase they made a thorough investigation of the physical conditions in the area: soil, amounts of rain, subsoil water, etc. In 1979 the second phase started. In 1980 INRAN employed the present supervisor of the project. The task of the second phase was to test different varieties of local crops in relation to the environment and ecology. Already at this stage, difficulties regarding co-operation developed. This happened because ISAID brought varieties from the USA to test, while domestic varieties that INRAN disposed of were left outside the test. After some delay they managed to establish in 1982 which varieties were best suited to the area. In order to study the effectiveness of the new species, INRAN suggested pilot tests to be conducted together with a few selected farmers. But ISAID wanted to test at once in full scale with all farmers in the area and this difference in point of view resulted in a definite break between INRAN and ISAID as regards Tapis Vert. ISAID stayed in the area, though, to complete their undertakings, i.e. to set up windpumps in the villages. INRAN, in their turn, started to look for new sponsors.
The third phase started in 1983 and consisted of pilot tests with the varieties of crops, which had been chosen in the previous phase of PTV. These tests were to continue till 1986 but were extended till 1987. The Sahel-team of the World Council of Churches contributed money to the project. In 1985 the Sahel-team asked DIAKONIA if they were interested in supporting PTV. Ola Olsson visited the project area in December 1985 and was informed, and a final application was written. From the summer 1986 till the summer 1988 DIAKONIA through the Sahel-team contributed to the activities of PTV.
The main goal for PTV is to work against desertification.
With this goal as a starting point, objectives for the different disciplines have been elaborated. These will be described later when analysing PTV.
In Chikal there is one person responsible for the project and to assist him, there are collaborators in charge of the four different disciplines. Moreover, there is a number of employees working in the plant school, collecting data in the fields and in the gardens, with maintenance etc. The literacy is co-ordinated in a country-wide literacy project, and there are some teachers and instructors in each village.