VCE Geography Unit 4 Outcome 2 - Case Study: Niger

Location of Niger

17.6078° N, 8.0817° E

central north africa

capital is niamey
landlocked

neighbours are chad (east), nigeria (south), algeria (north-west)

human features

population: 24m

highest pop growth in the world

TFR: 6.8 babies per woman - worlds highest

CDR: 7.8 per 1000 people - has declined

42.9% of children 5-14 are children

90% of pop live on 1/3 of the land

natural features

80% of Niger is covered by the Sahara desert

strong spacial association between airable land & population

periodic drought over the last 40 years

main biome: desert and the savanna

trend in population structure

population growth

70% of population was < the age of 25

what poulation dynamics cause population growth

youth

>50% of all children 7-16 are NOT enrolled in school

60% of girls complete primary school, < in rural areas

< 1/10 of girls attend secondary schools

early age of marriage:

28% of girls married before they’re 15

76% before they’re 18

legal age of marriage is 15

encouragement to have large families because of popular conservative type of islam

Locall response to food insecurity & what does it do

Gobro cereal bank funded in 2007

lets families take from cereal bank during the lean season & pay back when they’re making a profit seasonally

prevents starvation & malnutrition (1.9 million malnourished children in 2023)

prevents travel by long distances for food

Positive outcomes for the food bank

Reduces malnutrition and starvation for the whole community

protects vulnerable children, large young dependency ratio

412,000 children with severe acute malnutrition

What’s a challenge for the local food bank

Management issues, because of high illiteracy rates and lack of education as a whole - many children, especially girls, are not enrolled or drop out early

National response to high young dependency ratio

National family planning costed implementation plan (NFPCIP)

Government policies with costed implementation plans (CIP’s)

started in 2012

which are multi-year roadmaps what reflects the gov’s priorities to achieve better family planning and reproductive health outcomes

What does the costed implimentation plan target

aims to raise modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) from 21.8% in 2020 to 36.8% by 2030

What are the strageties used by the government to raise the mCPR

expand community-based distribution of contraceptives

train health workers in post-abortion and postpartum family planning

promotes long-lasting reversible contraceptives (implants and IUD’s)

How is the gov implimenting strageties

using quick results like 100-day projects to show rapid gains

monitor indicators tied to maternal health, child survival and education outcomes

What is a geospatial technology being used to evaluate high youth dependency ratio

GIS - National statistics institute of Niger (NSI) with National community health workers (CHW)

uses GIS to model travel time access to heath facilities, and identifies wher future CHW should be located to improve health service delivery and resource allocation.

RESULTS: increased access for 22.3 million people (2000-2013)

What layers are used in the GIS model of niger

where health facilities are located and realistic travel times

satellite data (settlements, rivers, land cover, elevation)

population grids

Pros of geospecial tech

results in better access to healthcare

helps visualize and give importance to high youth dependency ratio

identifies “cold spots”, areas where women/girls have little to no access to reproductive health services

data is easy to read for policy makers

Cons of geospatial tech

cost and time

Data could contain errors or misrepresented areas - last census was in 2012

What does SALTS stand for

Title, Axes, Labels, and Scale, source

Environmental Drivers for food insecurity

Soil degradation (enviro)

• >100,000 km2 of land is affected by desertification

• 63% of nigers pop depends on degraded land

• topsoil loss has cut cereal yields by up to 30% in some regions

• lowest rainfall in 30 years in june and july 2022

climate shocks

• alternating droughts and floods

• foods destroyed 24,000 ha of crops

• kiled 25,000 livestock

• affected 1.5million people

Social and political Drivers for food insecurity

Conflict & displacement (social/political)

• over 600,000 people are internally displaced or refugees

• because of armed conflict and insecurity from armed groups in diffa and tahoua.

• disrupts farming, trade and humanitarian aid delivery

• causes high food prices from poor harvests and coups

challenges of food insecurity

environmental degradation

food supply sustainability and movement