Floods in the Sahel: "The situation is exceptional", estimates a hydrologist

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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4 min

The Sahel has been severely affected by the torrential rains of recent days, which have meant death, but also considerable losses.

An exceptional situation, especially in Niamey, for Guillaume Favreau, hydrologist and representative of the Institute for Research and Development in Niger.

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Guillaume Favreau

Yes,

, for us who have been working in Niger for several ten years, we had never seen that.

How is this explained

There are causes related to the rainy season of this year with a higher rainfall.

There are also longer-term causes, there is an intensification of rainfall which is observed by observations and also predicted and this concerns all of West Africa.

There are also local causes, the silting up which is observed by the inhabitants and which is linked to the very significant erosion of the soils around Niamey within a radius of about fifty kilometers and also for this red flood of the rainy season. , the very significant deforestation on the rivers, on the watersheds of the Niamey, Sirba, Dargole rivers which are very large rivers that go to Burkina and massively deforested as everywhere in the Sahel and particularly around Niamey for charcoal. wood and firewood.

Gold mines and rural activities which deforest make certain slopes very runny and this brings massive amounts of water.

It is this combination of factors that explains the abundance of floods, particularly on the right bank.

Will it deteriorate or can we do something

There are short-term actions, containment, but it must be carried out according to the rules of the art and also long-term actions of reforestation of these watersheds.

It must be taken into account that long-term deforestation has actions which are now clearly visible and which make events of this magnitude, alas, have a higher probability in the years to come to occur than they do. was in the past.

■ Floods sink agriculture

As a result of the heavy floods that hit the Sahel, crops are severely damaged in Niger and Nigeria.

In Niamey, by the river, the rice fields disappeared under the waves several weeks ago.

The thousands of rice farmers who supplied the capital will experience a difficult season.

In total, the floods destroyed more than 5,500 hectares of crops in Niger, potentially tens of thousands of tonnes of rice that will have to be replaced by imports while the country already buys two-thirds of its consumption abroad. rice.

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.

A disaster for the West African giant, the leading producer, but also the leading importer of rice in Africa.

The state of Kebbi is not the only one affected within the federation.

In those of Kano, Enugu, Jigawa and Nasarawa, assessments are underway; sorghum, millet and maize crops have also been affected.

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• Niger

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