Prospects of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) in Madaroumfa Village, Maradi Department, Republic of Niger
[1]
Muhammad Nuraddeen Danjuma, Department of Geography, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.
[2]
Babangida Maiwada, Department of Geography, Isa Kaita College of Education, Dutsin-ma, Nigeria.
[3]
Ahmed Abubakar Bindawa, Department of Geography, Isa Kaita College of Education, Dutsin-ma, Nigeria.
Most conservation projects in Niger Republic were typically based on ideas developed in the western world; particularly in societies and cultures entirely different from those in West Africa. These were remarks of Tony Rinaudo, the creator of the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration. In order to conserve the environment, large, costly projects he added, were established to produce exotic species, particularly eucalyptus (Eucalytus camaldulensis), neem (Azadirachta indica) and Prosopis juliflora. These projects have indeed failed to give lasting benefits and the result was that most indigenous trees were lost. Consequently, local techniques of conservation which were relegated have to be promoted in order to restore lands that were preserved intuitively long before the external projects. One such technique is the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration. The aim of the study is to examine the prospects of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) in Madaroumfa Village of Niger Republic with a view to enlighten people on the prospects of ancestral technique for better management of resources such as vegetation. The technique brings hope by restoring vegetation in the Maradi area. A total of 70 respondents were identified using snowball sampling technique. These are farmers identified to be practising FMNR in the area. Results of the study found that 70 farmers interviewed practice FMNR and regenerated 340 species of which 191 survived in 5 years. Species mostly raised are; Fadherbia albida, Magnifera indica, Combretum glutinosum, Acacia camphylacantha, Ficus thonningii, Azadirachta indica, Adansonia digitata, Butyrespermun parkii, Moringa oleifera, Parkia biglobosa, Acacia nilotica, Proposis Africana and Jathropha curcas. The results show that FMNR is an adaptive strategy in Madaroumfa area of the Maradi Deppartment. It was recommended that FMNR should be promoted by providing incentives to farmers who raised certain number species annually.
Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, Adaptive Strategy, Madaroumfa
[1]
Abdou, M. and Trémolières, M. (2007). Cross-Border Cooperation between Niger and Nigeria: The Case of the Maradi Micro-Region. In Fredrik Söderbaum and Ian Taylor (eds). Micro-Regionalism in West Africa: Evidence from Two Case Studies (2007). Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala, Discussion Paper 34. Printed in Sweden by ElandersGotab AB, Stockholm.
[2]
Awaiss, A. (2000). Gestion des forêtset des arbres au niveau des terroirsdans la region de Maradi., Drylands Research Working Paper 31. Drylands Research, Crewkerne, United Kingdom.
[3]
Cameron, E. (2011). From Vulnerability to Resilience: Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) in Niger. Climate & Development Knowledge Network.
[4]
Danjuma, M. N. (2010). Vegetation Resources Management of the Maradi – Katsina Border Region of Niger – Nigeria: Perspectives of Local Managers and Users. Unpublished M. Sc Thesis submitted to the Department of Geography, Bayero University Kano.
[5]
David, M. (2008).118/119 Biodiversity and Tropical Forest Assessment for Niger. USDA Forest Service/International Forestry for USAID/Bureau for Africa. Washington, DC.
[6]
Haglund, E., Ndjeunga, J., Snook, L. and Pasternak, D. (2009). Assessing the Impacts of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration in the Sahel: A Case Study of Maradi Region, Niger. Working paper for International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Niamey, Niger.
[7]
Hertsgaard, M (2009). Regreening Africa, The Nation, 7 December 2009, http://www.thenation.com/article/regreening-africa.
[8]
Institute National de la Statistique du Niger (2012). Population Projections for the Maradi region, Niger Republic.
[9]
Larwanou, M., Abdoulaye, M. and Reij, C. (2006). Etude de la régénération naturelle assistée dans la région de zinder (niger): Une première exploration d’un phénomène spectaculaire. International Resources Group for the U. S. Agency for International Development.
[10]
Larwanou, M. (2011). Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) in Niger: a cost-effective technology for re-greening the Sahel. Briefing on the Green Economy February 11, 2011. United Nations HQ, New York, USA.
[11]
LEISA Magazine, (2007). The Development of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration. http://www.leisa.info/FritZ/source//getblob.php?o_id=113390&a_ id=211&a_seq=0, Vol 23. Issue 2.
[12]
Joet, A., Banoin, M., and Jouve, P. (1996). Le défrichement amélioré :une pratique paysanne d.agroforesterie au Sahel., in Jouve, P. (ed.) Gestion des terroirs et des ressources naturelles au Sahel. CNEARC, Montpellier.
[13]
Joet, A.; Jouve, P. and Banoin, M. (1998). Le defrichment ameliore au Sahel: Une pratique agroforestiere adoptee par les paysans. Bois etforets des Tropiques.
[14]
Mortimore, M. (1989). Adapting to Drought: Farmers, Famines and Desertification in West Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
[15]
Mortimore, M. and Adams, W. M. (2001). Farmers Adaptation, Change and ‘crisis’ in the Sahel. Global Environmental Change, 11(1)
[16]
Mortimore, M.; Tiffen, M.; Boubacar, Y. and Nelson, J. (2001). Synthesis of long term change in Maradi Department, Niger, 1960- 2000. Drylands Research Working Paper 39e, Drylands Research, Somerset, UK.
[17]
Mortimore, M.; Ariyo, J.; Bouzou, I. M.; Mohammed, S. and Yamba, B. I. (2006). A Dry land Case Study of the Ecosystem Approach. Local Natural Resource Management in the Maradi – Kano Region of Niger – Nigeria, World Conservation Union (IUCN) Study Report, Gland, Switzerland.
[18]
Raynaut, C., Koechlin, J., Brasset, P., Cheung, C. and Stigliano, M. (1988) Projet de Développement Rural de Maradi. Le développement rural de la région au village. Analyser etcomprendre la diversité. Université de Bordeaux II.
[19]
Rinaudo, T. (1999). Utilising the Underground Forest: Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration of Trees. In Pasternak, D. and Schlissel, A. (eds.). Combating Desertification with Plants. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
[20]
Rinaudo, T. (2008). The Development of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration. Permaculture Research Institute of Australia.
[21]
Rinaudo, T. (2010). A Short History of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration: The Niger Experience. Echo Technical Note.
[22]
Swinton, S. (1988). Drought survival tactics of subsistence farmers in Niger. Human Ecology, 16/2:123-44.
[23]
Tiffen, M. (2001). Profile of demographic change in the Kano-Maradi region, 1960-2000., Drylands Research Working Paper 24. Drylands Research, Crewkerne, United Kingdom.
[24]
Tougiani, A, Guero, C and Rinaudo, T (2008). Community mobilisation for improved livelihoods through tree crop management in Niger, GeoJournal, 74:377–389.
[25]
United Nations (UN) and Government of Niger (2005).5th International Rapport on Human Development, Niger, 2005. Available at http://www.unctad.org/templates/Page.asp?intItemID=4290&lang=2
[26]
Wezel A. and Schlecht, E. (2004). Inter-annual Variation of Species Composition of Fallow Vegetation in Semi-arid Niger. Journal of Arid Environments, 56: 265-282.
[27]
World Resource Institute, WRI (2008). Turning Back the Desert: How Farmers Have Transformed Niger’s Landscapes and Livelihoods. In: Roots of Resilience—Growing the Wealth of the Poor. World Resources Institute (WRI) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank. WRI, Washington, D. C.
