Madar (Niamey) - Niger's Maradi and Zinder regions on Saturday, 14 November 2026, set three dates for releasing rain-fed crop fields, opening them to livestock after the harvest, at an inter-regional forum in Tessaoua, the Niger Press Agency (ANP) reported.
According to ANP, 15 December 2026 was set for the Maradi region, 31 December 2026 for the southern part of the Zinder region and 31 January 2027 for its northern part.
The forum, held for the 2026 agro-sylvo-pastoral and water campaign, was chaired by the governor of the Maradi region, Police Inspector General Issoufou Mamane, in the presence of the secretaries-general of both regional governorates, the prefect of Tessaoua, municipal administrators, representatives of the defence and security forces and traditional chiefs.
The governor said that setting the dates by consensus was an essential way to prevent conflicts over the use of natural resources and to strengthen social cohesion. He asked participants to take account of crop maturity and choose realistic dates that protect farmers' harvests while guaranteeing herders' mobility.
A representative of the Tessaoua urban commune noted that the meeting came during the harvest and as transhumant herders move down from the north to the south because of a fodder shortage in pastoral areas, a situation that could cause tension, the agency said.
The head of the FAO sub-office in Maradi said the PROSEC project, run by FAO and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), supports local actors in dialogue and joint management of natural resources, and called for concrete recommendations to secure livestock corridors.
