Niger Pepper Farmers Return to Crop as Terror Threat Fades
- Government lifts ban on red pepper farming, key crop for Niger
- Niger lawmaker says ending prohibition ‘question of survival’
This article is for subscribers only.
After two years of living on family handouts, Issa Kaloumbou has returned to his red pepper farm in southeastern Niger because of a decline in attacks by Islamist militants based in neighboring Nigeria.
Kaloumbou is one of an estimated 30,000 farmers who’re resuming growing red peppers, the main crop in Niger’s Lake Chad area, following the government’s lifting of a two-year-old ban imposed amid a surge in jihadist attacks. The red pepper harvest used to generate more than 7 billion CFA francs ($14 million) annually. Fishing on the lake remains prohibited.