November 6

• West Africa: Militant Kidnappings Grow in Burkina Faso, Niger

  Aid agencies have stepped up security measures in Burkina Faso and Niger as the threat of kidnappings by Islamist groups mounts. Read more »

September 27

• Niger: Agencies Scramble to Repair Schools After Floods

  The government of Niger and aid agencies are scrambling to clean and repair thousands of schools that were damaged in the flooding from rains in July and August, which displaced... Read more »

September 21

• Niger: Child Mortality Slashed

  Niger has nearly halved the death rate of children below five years old since 1998, a significant drop highlighting the benefits of free universal health care for children and... Read more »

July 24

• Mali: Mali-Niger - Locusts Spawning Disaster

  Swarms of locusts encouraged by early rains are breeding in the north of Mali and Niger, bringing a second generation of insects that could increase 250 fold by the end of this... Read more »

May 31

• West Africa: Precious Water May be Tainted

  Right now, people in Niger, Mali and Nigeria could be sipping 50,000-year-old water from a two-aquifer system buried below their feet. But some of it may be contaminated. Read more »

April 19

• Niger: What is the Price of Human Dignity?

  Small farmers in Oullam District in Niger's western region of Tillaberi, faced with their third drought in seven years, are being forced to consider bundling up their few... Read more »

April 16

• West Africa: Is Sustainable Agriculture Possible in the Sahel?

  With drought conditions chronic in the Sahel, many farmers give up trying to grow crops and head to towns and cities to find work. Read more »

March 22

• Niger: Drought Does Not Mean Death of Pastoralism

  Having spent a fruitless day in search of pasture in the searing heat, about 20 worried and exhausted Fulani pastoralists from Niger near the southeastern edge of the Sahara lie... Read more »

February 20

• Niger: Diffa Traders Hit By Nigeria Border Closure

  For generations, Diffa, the arid southeastern corner of Niger, has benefited from being closer to Nigeria than to commercial centres in Niger: Staple grains, fuel, clothing and... Read more »

January 24

• Niger: Thousands of Villages Hit By Severe Food Shortages

  Nearly half Niger's population does not have enough to eat and the government says it is facing a grain shortfall of 692,501 tons, following another severe drought across the... Read more »

November 25, 2011

• Nigeria: Jeffrey James - 'We Would Kidnap White People to Make the Government Listen to Us'

  Frustrated by a lack of development and environmental degradation caused by oil extraction in the Niger Delta, Jeffrey James joined a militant group, Movement for the Emancipation... Read more »

September 20, 2011

• Niger: Lean Season Awaits Migrants Escaping Libya

  While the world's politicians conjure up fears of a "tsunami of migrants" flooding Europe, in reality it is Libya's economically vulnerable and chronically food-insecure neighbours... Read more »

• Libya: Sub-Saharan Migrants Keep Their Heads Down

  In an abandoned port on the outskirts of Tripoli, a young woman timidly peeks out from behind the blanket that forms a wall in her improvised home. She is one of hundreds of... Read more »

August 30, 2011

• West Africa: Cholera Soars in Lake Chad Basin

  Cholera has killed at least 1,200 people this year in the countries surrounding Lake Chad - Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria; the illness, linked primarily to poor sanitation and... Read more »

May 26, 2011

• Libya: Migrant Workers Struggle After Fleeing

  As thousands of Chadian returnees continue to cross from Libya into Chad - via Niger - villagers near the arrival points face a "double burden" with remittances drying up and their... Read more »

May 23, 2011

• Niger: 'In Libya You Face Bombs, But Here You Face Death'

  Migrants who have fled the conflict in Libya to return to Niger say they are having to beg, steal, or sell off remaining animals or plots of land to survive, so as not to burden... Read more »

May 19, 2011

• Niger: Food Aid Arrives to Relieve Crisis

  Aid is finally reaching tens of thousands of families in southern Niger who have survived mainly on wild leaves and fruit for the past six months. Read more »

April 8, 2011

• Niger: Crisis, What Crisis? [analysis]

  The evening meal will be stewed leaves tasting somewhat like spinach, which the women pick every morning, yet crops were standing tall before the leafhoppers flew into Zinder in... Read more »

• Niger: New Approaches Needed in Tackling Malnutrition [analysis]

  Having experienced a series of droughts and food security crises over the past 40 years, Niger is now looking to move beyond simply countering emergencies, investing instead in... Read more »

March 30, 2011

• Niger: Chasing Food Security

  Six months before the start of the 2009 rainy season the government of Niger was warned the rains would fail. In the drought that followed, more than half the population - 7.8... Read more »

March 12, 2011

• Niger: West Africans Flee Libya

  For aid agencies and local authorities in the village of Dirkou (population about 4,000), northern Niger, the priority is to have migrants fleeing Libya move through as quickly as... Read more »

March 11, 2011

• Niger: Soldiers Out, Civilians In As Nation Goes to Polls [analysis]

  Even if Niger's 12 March elections pass off quietly and a new civilian administration is voted in as planned, the country can hardly say coup attempts, both successful and... Read more »

February 24, 2011

• Niger: Making Toilets the Norm in Rural Niger

  Candid talk about human excrement is making people in rural Niger, where only 2 percent of the population has adequate sanitation, insist on building and using toilets: A project... Read more »