Unité Mixte de Recherche: Développement Durable, Sociétés et Adaptations aux Changements Climatiques, Faculté d’Agronomie et des Sciences de l’Environnement de l’Université Dan Dicko Dankoulodo de Maradi, BP 465, Maradi, Niger
Agricultural land, the main production factor, is under increasing pressure in the Maradi region of Niger. The meteoric rise in land transactions and land grabbing justifies this study to assess their impact, including the emergence of landless peasants. The study was carried out in twenty-one (21) villages in the communes of Baoudeta, Djirataoua, Guidan Roumdji, Sherkin Haoussa, Guidan Sori, Chadakori and Tchadoua in the Maradi region. Data were collected through individual interviews with a 30% sample of farmers in each village, supplemented by participant observation and focus groups. A total of 823 farmers of both sexes were surveyed. The results show that the average number of people per farm is ten (10). Access to land was by inheritance in 55.3% of cases, and 11.7% of respondents were landless as a result of successive transactions. A hierarchical ascending classification enabled us to identify three (3) classes of producers according to land tenure status: farmers with stable land tenure status, those with unstable land tenure status whose land is acquired by lease or pledge, owning on average 1.22± 1.5 ha, and landless farmers with an average family burden of 11 ± 4 dependents. The latter engage in a variety of off-farm activities to secure their livelihoods, such as petty trading, the sale of wood and fodder, handicrafts, begging and rural exodus. Production systems vary according to the land base of the farmer, which impacts the development of family farming and household food security.