Animals and Agriculture Projects in Niger

Projects like the ones that Samaritan’s Purse plans to implement with the funds from Raise a Village have already been put into place elsewhere in Niger. The photos below illustrate how those projects are helping people just like those in Guidan Gado—fathers, mothers, and children who now have hope for the future. Read more about Raise a Village and how it’s changing lives in Guidan Gado.

Few people in Guidan Gado own goats, and those that do have goats don’t have improved ones. With the funds from Raise a Village, Samaritan’s Purse will provide these people with red goats that have a faster gestation period and produce more milk. When these goats breed with the goats that the people of Guidan Gado already own, it will improve that breed too.

Samaritan’s Purse trained Moumouni Harouna (left) to be a paravet. He is the community animal healthcare worker in the village of Koro and 14 other surrounding villages. After training, we provided Harouna with an initial box of medicine. He will use his new livelihood to buy the next boxes.

In Koro, Samaritan’s Purse built this fodder bank and provided the first full stock. Each village with a fodder bank has a livestock committee, and many of them serve several communities. The committee in Koro comprises 14 members, four of which are vulnerable women. The women run the bank, which provides feed at a lower price than the market but at a price high enough that the committee is still able to make money. In this photo, a woman named Rabi is on her way to buy feed.

Inside the fodder bank, Rabi offers Hadjara, the woman running the bank, money for the fodder. In Niger, women are usually not given much responsibility, but they are more honest with money than men. Samaritan’s Purse has given the women new opportunities by allowing them to run the banks.

Rabi is a mother of eight and enjoys buying feed at the fodder bank for a lower price. She pays around $17 for a 50-kilogram bag, whereas the market would charge $18. For people who often live on less than $1.25 per day, that’s a huge difference.

Samaritan’s Purse gave Hadjara two female goats, which provide milk for nutrition for her eight children, and one male goat. She now has two adult goats and three babies. After the goats give birth, beneficiaries are instructed to give them to others in the village so that everyone can profit from them.

In Guidan Gado, Samaritan’s Purse will construct several shallow boreholes for water and irrigation. Currently people from six villages use the two broken boreholes in Guidan Gado. We will build ours differently to ensure they work properly.

Abdoul travels to Manzou village to go to church. His father is the chief of his village, and when he found out Abdoul had become a Christian, he wanted him to leave the village to avoid shaming the family. Abdoul started praying for his father and his advisors, and now his father has agreed to let him stay in the village. “Jesus transformed my life,” Abdoul said. “Being a Muslim was like dark inside of darkness. I have nothing, but the Bible says seek first His righteousness.”

These Samaritan’s Purse staff members are working to spread the Gospel in Guidan Gado. Although Niger consists mostly of Muslims, sharing God’s Word is not prohibited.

In the village of Zangon Damou, some of our evangelists work with the Tamasheq tribe to help with farming, nutrition, and income generation.

The villagers dig these half-moon shapes and put grass seeds in them. When it rains, the areas collect water, which makes the grass grow. The grass can then be used to feed livestock or rebuild pastures.

In the village of Doulsou, improved seeds have led to productive farms throughout the area. Samaritan’s Purse has been working on the island in the Niger River since 2005.

The storage facilities pictured behind this man are used to store extra vegetables until other villages begin to run out. Then the people in Doulsou take out their vegetables to sell to those who need it.

Men in Niger show their harvest which was made possible through Samaritan’s Purse agricultural programs.

Women in Doulsou also go through hygiene training to improve their health.

In Zangou Damou, the women participate in a savings group. Although most women in Niger don’t learn how to save money, this group helps them. Once the women have saved enough money, they buy and raise a large animal, and then they sell it. They share the profits. Although the focus of the class is on saving money, the women also learn biblical principles, which provide an opportunity to share the Gospel.

This savings box is where the women keep their money until it’s time to use it to buy a new animal or supplies to make products to sell, such as jewelry.

Djodjatou Mamadou lives in the village of Figorne, where Samaritan’s Purse taught her how to farm in the dry season. Others in the village also learned about income-generating activities and other farming methods.

Teenage men can be difficult to find in Guidan Gado. Most of them leave to find work and better living conditions in Nigeria. With the knowledge and tools to farm in the dry season, some of the men will return to be with their families.

Animals and Agriculture Projects in Niger

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