Floods in the Sahel: thousands of hectares of rice paddies under water
Children in a street flooded by the waters of the Niger river which flooded the Kirkissoye district, in Niamey, on August 27, 2020. BOUREIMA HAMA / AFP
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Heavy floods hit the Sahel, causing agriculture to sink.
Crops are seriously damaged in Niger and Nigeria where the rice harvest will plunge: 450,000 hectares of rice fields are under water and a total of two million tons of rice could be missing.
The situation is less serious in other countries of the zone but remains worrying.
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In Niamey by the river, the rice fields disappeared under the waves several weeks ago.
The thousands of rice farmers who supplied the Nigerien capital will experience a difficult season.
Missing rice
In total, the floods destroyed more than 5,500 hectares of crops in the country, potentially tens of thousands of tonnes of rice that will have to be replaced by imports.
The country already buys two-thirds of its rice consumption from abroad.
The Nigerian neighbor is one of its suppliers, but here too the situation is difficult.
Kebbi State, bordering Niger, has lost 450,000 hectares of rice paddies, according to the Nigerian Rice Farmers Association, which represents two million tonnes of rice less than the eight million tonnes forecast this year.
For the West African giant, the largest producer but also the largest importer of rice in Africa, it is a disaster.
The state of Kebbi is not the only one affected within the federation.
In those of Kano, Enugu, Jigawa and Nasarawa, assessments are underway.
The sorghum, millet and corn harvests were also reportedly affected.
Read also
: Niger: the ordeal of those displaced by the floods
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