Fishermen cultivate rice on Néni-Goungou, an island in the Niger River, in order to compensate for the loss of income caused by the crisis in the fishing sector, in Niamey on February 27, 2024. 4,200 km long, Niger supports more than 100 million Sahelians. Its first beneficiaries are the Sorkos, or “men of the water”: fishermen, canoeists, occasional rescuers, they have drawn their livelihood from the river for centuries.
But from the 1980s, the river began to silt up to the point that it is now possible to cross it on foot in Niamey in several places during low water periods, from March to May.
A phenomenon which is disrupting the way of life of the Sorkos and forcing them to turn away from an ancestral activity. (Photo by BOUREIMA HAMA / AFP)