The revival of traditional plants in Niger and the Sahel region is improving the lives of women in rural communities, enhancing food security and reducing desertification.
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00:00 The women are skilled at plucking the leaves off the twisting branches of Jiga trees.
00:05 In the village of Danbuda, they're in demand.
00:09 The women can harvest the leaves all year round,
00:12 using them to cook or to sell at the market in the nearby town of Zinda.
00:18 Before, we used to go into the bush to cut wood that we could sell to buy food.
00:25 Then one day I went to Zinda for a funeral and my relatives took me to Sahara Sahel Foods
00:31 in their neighborhood and told me that they buy adobo fruit desert dates.
00:36 So I started selling these to them.
00:39 People at home laughed at me. Why would anyone buy adobo fruit?
00:43 But then two others joined me. Now 40 women do it too.
00:48 The idea is to harvest and market native wild plants came from Joseph Garvey.
00:54 He grew up in Niger and had long been thinking about the benefits of reviving native dryland trees
00:59 such as the wild Hanza species.
01:02 They used to have Hanza, they used to eat Hanza, but only in times of hardship.
01:08 So when we started working with them, we started buying their Hanza.
01:11 At first they were reluctant, they didn't think we were serious,
01:14 but they realized that we were actually serious, we were actually buying it,
01:17 and they got involved in harvesting a lot of Hanza and delivering to us.
01:21 And they became very happy from the extra income they could make.
01:25 But we weren't quite satisfied because they were harvesting in order to sell us,
01:29 but they were still considering it something that they'd rather not eat themselves.
01:33 Now they've started to change their minds.
01:36 As a social enterprise, Sahara Sahel Foods raises awareness in local communities
01:41 about native trees that can provide nutritious leaves, fruits and seeds,
01:46 and they've learned to appreciate them.
01:48 A few years ago we had a special training program,
01:51 and we were showing them different recipes, different ways of preparing Hanza,
01:55 making nice dishes, nice meals from it.
01:59 And that really struck on.
02:02 So the year after, they said that they had very little Hanza to sell us.
02:07 And the reason, they said, was that, well, basically,
02:10 now they were eating the Hanza themselves,
02:13 so instead of selling it to us, they'd rather keep it for their own needs.
02:18 Exactly the result he'd wanted.
02:21 Sahara Sahel Foods has been active in the Zinda region since 2014,
02:26 and these days works with 1,500 small farmers and 80 villagers.
02:31 They supply various fruits and leaves from over 20 local plant species,
02:36 which are then used to produce oil, jam, spices and pastry.
02:41 60 products are now sold around Niger, and some of them are also exported.
02:47 Up until today, many people thought that these bush foods are just local stuff
02:52 and don't have any particular value.
02:55 They forgot about them because they just grow wild in the bush.
02:59 But now people have begun to understand that our products are useful.
03:02 For example, doctors at Sandia National Hospital
03:05 prescribe foods from our shops, such as Hanza porridge, which helps diabetics.
03:12 Sahara Sahel Foods' cookery courses are popular.
03:16 Today, instructor Hawa Habu is showing the women what they can do with Hanza fruit.
03:24 It has a high protein content.
03:27 We have taught them a lot of things, such as how to cook Hanza with sauce made from horn-fruited jute,
03:40 which they didn't know, Hanza porridge, which they didn't know either,
03:45 and Jujube pulp biscuits.
03:48 Basically, we taught them a lot of recipes.
03:51 Joseph Garvey learned a lot from his Norwegian father.
03:59 Arne Garvey was a young man when he emigrated to Niger with his wife.
04:05 He began collecting seeds from indigenous plants and resowing them using a direct seeding method.
04:10 Sahara Sahel Foods successfully replanted 160 local varieties in this way.
04:17 The farmers followed suit.
04:20 Here in the commune of Dago, 35 kilometers from Zinda,
04:23 many of the trees were planted by the farmers themselves.
04:27 The whole idea of direct seeding is that you can teach to the farmers,
04:32 and then the farmers can teach each other.
04:35 And then once you get what we call the WPC economy established,
04:43 it will have its own momentum.
04:46 And I would like to inspire people not only here, but all over the world,
04:52 to use their indigenous perennials.
04:56 Joseph Garvey also teaches at the University of Zinda.
05:02 He works together with Dr. Abdou Rabou.
05:04 The topic of local wild plants is also on his curriculum
05:08 and has regularly been sending students to train with the enterprise since 2018.
05:13 The Sahara Sahel Foods site has become a training ground for our students.
05:20 It's where they go to learn about the plants
05:23 that are most often found in arid and semi-arid zones here in Niger.
05:28 After 10 years in the Zinda region, Garvey's project is flourishing.
05:32 Many smallholder farming families are now experts on various local tree varieties
05:38 and how to care for them, and are passing their insights on to their children.
05:42 You know a child will watch you from a very young age.
05:49 My daughter understands that it's with the income from these efforts
05:53 that she will be able to grow up.
05:56 That it's with the income from these efforts that we'll buy them certain items.
06:00 So she follows in our footsteps, and that's why from time to time she sows trees too.
06:07 Damila Yusuf has a regular income and can feed her family well.
06:13 She's even been able to build her own house.
06:16 The small seeds have borne fruit.
06:19 route.