Africa Innovates Magazine - Flipbook - Page 22
GREENING THE SAHEL AGAIN
IN NIGER
WHAT
DRIVES YOU?
Niger is full of arid areas and food
insecurity is a problem we’ve longendured. But our people have always had
solutions to push ahead with life in these
landscapes. I’m passionate about reviving
and valorizing this knowledge so that we
can have stable food systems in the Sahel.
This quest drove me to create Sahara
Sahel Food in 2014.
WHAT IS
YOUR BEST
ACHIEVEMENT?
The food we produce, like hanza, was
previously associated with famine in
Niger. So destigmatizing this food has
been a huge achievement, and it’s now
considered an important asset to build
the resilience of the population. We even
managed to bring it to the tables of 5-star
restaurants in Niamey!
WHAT IS YOUR WHAT
INNOVATION? IS YOUR
We’re creating food from the bushland.
The products from the trees, adapted AMBITION?
to our arid climate, can be transformed
into quality foods and sold to urban
consumers. We’re creating both value
and prestige for this food.
We work with 70 rural communities,
1,500 gatherers and 300 suppliers in
Central Eastern Niger. We buy products
from local women and support them with
bush replantation. In doing so, we’re
creating a movement which facilitates the
reforestation of our arid areas. Maybe one
day, the Sahara will be green again!
AGRICULTURE
Niger’s Josef Garvi is founder of Sahara Sahel Foods, created in
2014 in Zinder – the third largest city in Niger. It’s his self-made
mission to perpetuate traditional community knowledge, to
restore the green of the Sahel.
We want to transform agriculture in the
Sahel. Currently, there is a monoculture
of cereals that has strongly contributed
to desertification. We need a polyculture
based on perennial plants and trees. We
want to bring an agronomic revolution
where agriculture uses indigenous plants
and trees – varieties which sequester
carbon with deep root systems. In
addition, through this process, we want
to recreate the conditions for biodiversity,
an ecosystem that’s favourable to wildlife
and migratory birds. As we initiate the
transition to this type of agriculture, we
also want to encourage the massive
greening of the Sahel – we want to
reforest our lands.
Photo credit: Sahara Sahel
Food - Hanza Hummus
ANY
MESSAGE
YOU WANT
TO SHARE?
“We have to understand
our ecosystems to use
and valorise them.
We can solve all our
problems by proper
use of biodiversity
and existing natural
resources.”
Josef Garvi,
Sahara Sahel Foods founder
Photo credit: Adobe Stock
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SHOWCASING AFRICAN CLIMATE CHAMPIONS
