Dr. Oyama started JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project (Grassroots Cooperation Support Type) “Greening Activities with Organic Waste in Niamey Metropolitan Area, Republic of Niger” in September 2021, with the Ministry of Environment and Combating　Desertification of Nigerien government as a counterpart. The project agreement was signed between JICA Niger office, the Ministry of Environment and Combating Desertification (Ministre de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre la Désertification), Republic of Niger, and the Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University.

This project aims to build a material cycle between urban and rural areas, improve desertification in rural areas and sanitation in cities, eradicate hunger and poverty, prevent ethnic conflicts and deter terrorism. As a countermeasure against desertification, we are using household waste from cities to restore degraded land and create grazing land for livestock. Both farmers and herders raise livestock, and by providing grazing land to local residents, they are able to fatten their livestock and earn cash income to buy food that is in short supply at hunger season. The project will also help prevent ethnic conflicts between farmers and herders caused by livestock eating crops.

By cleaning up the trash inside the city, the project can also prevent the spread of cholera and typhoid fever, which spread every year during the rainy season. We are cooperating with the Niamey Nyala program, an urban modernization plan promoted by the capital city of Niamey, and we are cooperating with the city of Niamey in cleaning and creating a clean environment in the metropolitan area.

In 2021, we will establish a new local NGO in Niger, OLDACV-SHARA [Organisation Non Gouvernementale pour la Lutte Contre la Désertification et l’Améliation du Cadre de l’Améliation]. Amélioration du Cadre de Vie], a new local NGO in Niger, and its members are working together to improve urban sanitation and combat desertification through greening using household waste.

This project aims to respond to weather-related disasters such as heavy rains and frequent flooding in the capital city of Niamey, to improve the living environment of rural areas in the suburbs by greening degraded land, and to prevent ethnic conflicts and deter terrorism. In addition, we are also working to address global climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and to solve the waste disposal problems that human society is facing. We are continuing our steady research activities to solve both local and global problems.

Photo 1　Signing ceremony for the project, “Greening Activities with Organic Waste in Niamey Metropolitan Area, Republic of Niger”

Photo 2　Director of JICA Niger Office, Mr. Obata and Madame Garama Saratou Rabiou Inoussa, Minister, the Ministry of Environment and Combating Desertification (Ministre de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre la Désertification), Republic of Niger

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Facebook of Madame Garama Saratou Rabiou Inoussa, le ministère de Ministre de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre la Désertification de la République du Niger