Case Study: Maradi and Zinder Regions, Niger

The document examines the restoration of 5 million hectares in southern Niger through farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), a locally driven agroforestry practice. It details how FMNR improved food security, household income, and climate resilience while sequestering 25 million tons of carbon. The study identifies key success factors, including the 1989 Rural Code which secured land and tree tenure for farmers, and the role of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and international funding from USAID and IFAD.

• Farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) has restored approximately 5 million hectares of land in the Maradi and Zinder regions since 1985, involving more than a million rural households.
• The adoption of FMNR has significantly increased food security, adding an estimated 500,000 tons of annual cereal production, which is sufficient to feed 2.5 million additional people.
• Restoration has provided substantial economic benefits, with some farmers doubling or tripling their incomes; gross regional income is estimated to have grown by $17–$21 million annually.
• Environmental gains include the addition of 200 million on-farm trees and the sequestration of approximately 25 million tons of carbon over two decades, averaging 5 tons per hectare.
• A critical enabling factor was the reform of land and tree tenure, specifically the 1989 Rural Code (adopted as a framework ordinance in 1993), which granted farmers secure rights to manage and benefit from on-farm trees.
• FMNR proved more cost-effective than international tree-planting programs of the 1970s and 80s, which cost $1,000 per hectare and saw less than half of the 60 million trees survive.
• Financial support for policy and technical reforms included $20 million in USAID transfer payments for policy conditionalities and $8 million for external assistance, alongside approximately $31 million invested by IFAD and cofunders in the Aguié district between 2005 and 2013.

APA

Buckingham, K., & Hanson, C. (2015). Case Study: Maradi and Zinder Regions, Niger. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Niger.pdf

Chicago

Buckingham, Kathleen, and Craig Hanson. Case Study: Maradi and Zinder Regions, Niger. World Resources Institute, 2015. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Niger.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Buckingham |first1=Kathleen |last2=Hanson |first2=Craig |title=Case Study: Maradi and Zinder Regions, Niger |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=2015 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Niger.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{buckingham2015case, author = {Buckingham, Kathleen and Hanson, Craig}, title = {{Case Study: Maradi and Zinder Regions, Niger}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2015}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Niger.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }