Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) provided goat and agricultural tools for 11 Nigerien citizens, who are members to AVEN, namely the Association for the Valorisation of Ecotourism in Niger.

According to the UN data, about half of the Nigerien population live under the poverty threshold. Niger is one of the countries stricken the most by the Covid-19 pandemics and terrorist attacks that have affected western Sub-Saharan countries in recent years.

Many people employed in the sectors representing the country’s economy, especially those in tourism, have been negatively affected by these extraordinary developments.

The tourist guides who used to guide the tourists visiting the Kouré Giraffe Reserve rehabilitated by TİKA came together under the roof of AVEN after losing their income to a great extent because of the terrorist attacks in 2020 that gave a big blow to the region’s tourist capacity.  

Thus, TİKA provided the tourist guides with 44 goats, 11 ploughs and fertilizers to improve their economic conditions and contribute to the agricultural production and animal husbandry in the region.

The support kits were presented at a ceremony organized in Kouré Giraffe Reserve rehabilitated by TİKA. İbrahim Harouna, the Chef of Kouré Canton, Laminou Saidou, the Director of Fauna and Environmental Conversation under the Federal Ministry of Environment of Nigeria and the representatives of the association thanked TİKA, Republic of Türkiye and Turkish people for their help.

With this project, around 60 people, including the above-mentioned 11 guides and their families, were given income support. The project aims to provide additional income and increase the agricultural and animal production in the region.