FARMER IN THE SOUL IN THE SAHEL: TRADER IN THE HEART OF GOLD COAST
The time was 5pm in Sekoukou, a village near La Tillaberi in the outskirt of Niamey, Niger. The sun was, as expected, generously smiling at 42 °C. The hot semi-arid vast last stared at us with the absorbing heat from the graves of the sahel- soil, beckoning us into it's embrace. T he indigenes, predominantly, sorghum and millet farmers had just returned from their respective farms, some, with the help of their camels or donkeys to till the land and to carry heavy loads. My mission was to do series of impact stories of social interventions with beneficiaries of a green hydrogen project currently providing them electricity and potable water through solar installation and execution. While you may think French is a given language in Niger, the people of Sekoukou only speak Zarma and Hausa- the two most dominant local languages . So, obviously I was bereft of my my hope to tap into my elementary French to str...