Background
Historically Niger can be considered the traveler's interchange of West Africa. Literally a desert interstate junction that was used for millennia, it is still used to transport European and African merchandise across the desert. Across the wide expanse of the Sahara, nomadic travelers chartered routes as far away Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Nomadic traders from the Niger region would meet Arabic, Asian, Iberian or European merchants in far away capitals, offering ivory, gold and black slaves, for iron, fabric, spices and European slaves. Nomadic travelers would drive their camels and cattle down from the desert into the sub-Saharan regions of Niger that were more fertile and offered refuge from the scorching desert during the hot season.
Cultural Demography
Considering the mass transit that convoyed through Niger over the centuries, there are not many ethnic groups that settled to share the region. This is possibly due to th e degree of specialization required in eking out a meager living in this extremely poor and disadvantaged country. The ethnic groups that were successful in creating a livelihood in this region did so by carving out a delicate niche in a highly fragile environment.
There are five main ethnicities the live in Niger: Hausa, Djerma-Songhai, Tuareg, Fulani and Gourmantche. The Hausa, who constitute the largest of the ethnic groups, live mainly in the mid-southern part of Niger, right along the border with Nigeria. Hausa of Nigeria have strong ties with the Hausa of Niger. Hausa is a dominant force in the region, with approximately 34 million speakers in both Niger and Nigeria.
The Hausa are generally marketers and farmers. They are also known as the butchers of Niger. Historically, the Hausa would buy cattle from the northern nomads and process it for sale in the markets. The Nigerien Hausa are descendent from the Bororo-Haus a Empire that swept the Sahel into submission with strict adherence to mainly Sunni Islam. The Hausa were organized and administered through a system of Islamic sultanates that were essentially considered royalty. These sultanates commanded a dedicated army that would either forcibly convert or kill those they considered pagan, or who would not believe in, and pray to Allah as the one true God.
The next largest of the ethnic groups are the Djerma-Songhai. This group historically has its roots in the Songhai Empire along the Niger River from Timbuktu in Mali to Niamey in Niger. The capital of Niger is presently Niamey. Since independence from the French, the Djerma-Songhai have generally been in control of the country. The Djerma-Songhai were mainly sedentary agriculturists who developed strong secular and centralized forms of monarchy that governed and offered protection from marauding nomadic pastoralists as far back at the early 14th century. Descend ents of the royal families and its nobles still exist and command great respect throughout the Songhai-Djerma regions in the political area as well as the cities and countryside.
Both of these groups are sedentary farmers that live in the arable, southern tier of Niger. The remainder of the Nigerien people are generally nomadic or transhumant livestock raising people such as the Tuareg, Fulani, Kanouri and Toubou.
Prior to European expansion and the consequent colonization of West Africa, the Tuaregs, characteristically known by their indigo blue veil, had undisputed control over the desert and the trade routes linking all the major cities. Tuaregs were either necessary or deadly to anyone attempting to caravan through the northern regions due to their protection of remote but vital wells, keen knowledge of the desert, and constant patrol of the desert routes. Tuaregs refer to themselves as Kel Tamasheq after their langu age, and live in a society that is extremely hierarchical, composed of social groups of different ranks. Inhabiting what seems a barren wasteland, they developed methods that could use the existing scarce and fragile resources of the Sahel. Having developed a somewhat exploitative relationship with the southern savanna agriculturists, Tuaregs provided farmers with significant functions and products through their caravan trade.
Since colonization the Tuaregs had been at war with the French and with successive Niger administrations after independence. There was a formal armed confrontation between Niger security forces and loose bands of Tuareg confederations between 1990 and 1995. Tuaregs have typically resented the leaders in the government for indifference, discrimination, the imposition of taxes and unfair border restrictions. Tuaregs are a severely proud and independent group that had been hard hit by successive droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, wher e 80 percent of their cattle holdings died of starvation and dehydration. This left many Tuaregs begging and homeless. Due to lack of funds, recovery programs, and an indifference of the government of Niger, many were forced to move to burgeoning capital cities to take whatever odd jobs were available.
The Fulani speak Fufulde, and are also known as Fulbe. They are the most widely dispersed of the transhumant groups in Africa. They are scattered throughout the West African savanna belt of wooded grasslands, ranging from the Atlantic to as far east as the Sudan. Found mostly in Northern Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Cameroon, the Fulani practice a range of livelihood activities spanning the fully pastoral and nomadic Bororo, to the fully settled agricultural and urban Fulani.
The Toubou and to a lesser extent the Kanouri, live in the remote extreme east of the county, along the Nigerien, Nigerian and Chadia n border. The Toubou are mainly nomadic herders and farmers. In 1997-1998, the army of Niger quelled a Toubou revolt and caused thousands of Toubou to flee to Nigeria for safety. A peace agreement between the Toubou rebels and the government of Niger on Aug. 21, 1998, might have paved the way for the Toubous to return safely to their homes. However, this has not proven to be the case. Many Toubou remain in the Nigerian provinces of Kano, Yobe, Jigawa and Borno, avoiding authorities and too frightened to return to Niger for fear of government reprisals.
The Gourmantche live mainly along the periodically lush border with Benin and Burkina Faso. Typically animist, they constitute Niger's smallest population. They are mainly agriculturist and do not venture out of their enclave near the border. Known for their shaven teeth and alcoholic prowess, the Gourmantche live in accordance with their Muslim neighbors, who consider them pagans.
Human Development
With the scarcity of resources in this arid country increasing and rapidly growing populations, the consequent competition for meager natural resources has been a factor of conflict in recent years. Transhumant pastoralists and sedentary agriculturists have fought over grazing rights, access to water and migratory passage. These conflicts have resulted in fatalities on both sides.
Recently there have been armed clashes between Fulani herders and Hausa agriculturists in the regions along the Nigerien/Nigerian border. There have also been clashes between herder groups over rights of passage through farmland for each of the group's herds. Because the government is mainly composed of agriculturist ethnicities, pastoral and semi-pastoralist groups have deep-seated and historical mistrust of any compromises or agreement that affect access to common resources.
Today, Niger is one of the poorest and least developed nations on ear th. Indeed, the Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) calculated that Niger is the second poorest country in the world. Nearly 60 percent of the people of Niger live on a dollar a day or less. Only 20 percent of people have access to proper sanitation. Moreover, over 40 percent of the population has no access to clean drinking water.
Niger's high infant mortality rate is comparable to levels recorded in neighboring countries at about 115.42 deaths/1000 live births. The child mortality rate (deaths among children between the ages of one and four), however, is exceptionally high (274 per 1,000) due to generally poor health conditions and inadequate nutrition for most of the country's children. Niger's very high fertility rate (7.29 children per woman) nonetheless means that nearly half of the Nigerien population (47.3 percent) is under age 15. According to recent life expectancy figures, Niger has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the world. Niger's overall life expectancy was 44 years of age.
School attendance is very low at 34 percent, including 38 percent of males and only 27 percent of females. In fact, Niger has the lowest percentage of school attendance in Africa. Additional education occurs through Koranic schools is available. Literacy in Niger is also low. Nigeriens 15 years of age and over that can read and write within the total population is a mere 28.7 percent percent. Broken down by gender, this rate is only 42.9 percent for males and for females, it is a shockingly low rate of 15.1 percent.
About 6.1 percent of GDP in this country is spent on health expenditures; about 4.5 percent of GDP is spent on educational expenditures.
A notable measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is formulated by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main areas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In its recent report, the UNDP placed Niger near the bottom of the HDI low human development category, at 167th place out of 169 countries. Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief at www.countrywatch.com. See Bibliography for list of research sources.