Briefing Paper

Spillovers from Off-farm Self-employment Opportunities in Rural Niger

The agricultural sector is the main economic activity in peri-urban and rural Niger. Yet, farm households still face constraints related to climate change and agricultural factors that may hinder
agricultural production and threaten food security. Food insecurity is an agriculture-related issue and
recurrent issue in Niger. As an important route out of poverty, there is new interest in promoting the development of the rural off-farm economy, as a source of growth in agricultural-based countries. The main challenge for policy interventions in rural Niger is thus to promote this type of off-farm employment while, at the same time, enhancing agricultural production and improving food security.