Food in Niger

Niger is a landlocked least developed country with food deficits. Agriculture provides more than 40% of gross domestic product and income for more than 80% of the active population. Rain-fed millet and sorghum form the main cereal base, while maize and rice also contribute. Irrigated rice is especially relevant in Dosso and Tillabéri, including second crops. Cowpeas, groundnuts, sesame, onions, peppers and tigernuts are important legumes and cash crops. Livestock is central to food and income: Niger had about 62 million animals in 2024, with small ruminants making up about 60%. Pastoral and agropastoral systems connect herding, milk, meat and crop production. Food patterns differ across Niger. Sahelian cereal zones dominate nationally, while irrigated rice is more prominent in parts of Dosso and Tillabéri. Hausa, Zarma-Sonhrai, Peulh and Tuareg settings use different names and preparation styles. Common forms include bouillie, a cereal porridge; boule or pâte, a cereal ball or paste served with sauce; couscous; and sauces made with vegetables, legumes or meat. Millet can become porridge, paste, couscous, wassalé or a dairy drink. Other local foods include dônou, furah, chobbal, tidda, dambou and dégué. A national recipe inventory records 518 recipes, including 269 cereal, 100 vegetable, 36 tuber, 33 legume, 15 meat, 3 dairy and 4 egg recipes. These figures show the range of recorded preparations rather than a fixed national menu. Households commonly combine their own production, household storage and processing with market purchases. Other pathways include pastoral dairy and livestock, off-season or irrigated production, school meals, humanitarian food and nutrition assistance, and cash, voucher or social-protection support. Access depends on location, season, insecurity, functioning markets and programme targeting. Insecurity can disrupt fields and markets, particularly in Tillabéri and Diffa. Diffa, Maradi, Tahoua, Zinder and Agadez also contain refugee areas with heightened food and nutrition risks. Food access and dietary diversity remain major constraints. UNICEF 2025 tables report that about 13% of children reached minimum dietary diversity and about 11% reached minimum acceptable diet, while about 45% received no fruit or vegetables in the measured data. The groups facing the greatest risks include children under five, pregnant and breastfeeding women, refugees and internally displaced people, pastoral households and households affected by crisis. IPC projections for August 2025 to July 2026 estimated about 1.6 million children aged 6 to 59 months with acute malnutrition, including more than 410,000 with severe acute malnutrition, and 306,846 pregnant or breastfeeding women requiring attention. Eating at home is the dominant pattern in the available evidence. Prepared-food markets and informal vendors serve urban centres and villages, but national data on formal restaurants and street-food coverage are not established. Prices, access and hygiene vary by market and season. Household food costs usually rise during the lean season, especially from June to August. In May to July 2026, wholesale millet prices rose by about 25% and sorghum prices by about 40%; by July 2026, millet prices were still about 5% to 25% below the previous year and sorghum prices about 10% to 30% below the previous year. Public-stock subsidised cereal sales and export restrictions supported supply. Actual retail costs depend on the commodity, market, region, transport and season, so there is no reliable national restaurant-price benchmark. Food safety control is fragmented. Potable-water standards are set by Arrêté 141/MSP/LCE/DGSP 2004, and Décret 2011-616/PRN/MEL covers hygiene inspection for food of animal origin. Niger's 2022–2026 health development plan identifies insufficient food and water safety capacity. In daily practice, safe water, hand hygiene, thorough cooking, protection from contamination and safe storage matter especially when buying or preparing food through informal markets. A formal nationwide unified food-safety regulator has not been evidenced. A 2022 FAO and African Development Bank project focused on food-processing safety for small and medium-sized enterprises. Niger's Constitution recognises a right to a healthy and sufficient food supply and potable water in Article 12 and links public policy to food-supply sovereignty and sustainable development in Article 146. Niger has also ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These principles do not create an automatic entitlement to free meals for every household. Access to assistance depends on the programme, location, targeting rules and available resources. The Government of Niger, the Ministère de l'Agriculture et de l'Élevage, the Ministère de la Santé Publique, FISAN, the Comité national de prévention et de gestion des crises alimentaires, communes and market actors each have different roles. FAO, WFP, UNICEF and IPC support research, coordination or assistance but do not replace national authorities. Food production faces rainfall dependence, drought, floods, pests, soil and resource degradation and insecurity. Crop-livestock integration, water management and irrigation, improved storage and value chains, diversified legumes and vegetables, sustainable pastoralism, fish-pond rehabilitation and local processing can strengthen resilience. Cereal output in 2025 was about 5.3 million tonnes, close to the five-year average. The 2026 season was generally favourable but still carried localised dryness and flood risks. These conditions affect what food is available, how much it costs and how reliably households can obtain it.