SIGN started as a quest by Mervyn Church (United Kingdom) to find a small girl, Zouera, he supported in Handaga village through a charity, and help her village and school. Mervyn arrived in October 2008 and saw the potential for the village's increasing their level of prosperity through gardening.
Most of Niger's agriculture is subsistence farming, centered around the rainy season from July through September. Very little irrigated farming or gardening is accomplished by the vast majority of people in Niger outside this rainy season, although there is adequate water available in most areas below ground in aquifirs. The climate of Niger allows for year-round crop cultivation, and together with the abundant water supply, this presents a real opportunity for the Developed World's organizations to promote agricultural programs aimed towards eliminating the food insecurity issues in Niger.
Mervyn met with the Handaga village Chief and elders, and obtained permission to start a vegetable garden near the village water well. This first year in 2009 the allocated land was one quarter of an acre, and produced enough vegetables for a surplus to be sold at the local market in Tera. This convinced the villagers to agree with Mervyn in 2010 to expand the garden to over half an acre, with good fencing and a reservoir/drip irrigation system purchased from JTS Seeds France in Niamey.
The next step is further expansion with a 3.5 hectare African Market Garden, developed by Dov Pasternak of the International Crops Researtch Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). This garden plan is modeled after a working demonstration in Tanka village, near Filingue, and includes a new water well, solar-powered pumps, large reservoirs, drip irrigation system, and fencing.
Another aspect to accomplish lasting food security for Handaga and the Tera region will be the introduction of the Institute of Simplified Hydroponics (www.carbon.org) systems through the local school, with growing beds modified for the Sahel conditions of Niger.
SIGN is approaching International non-governmental organizations, government-sponsored organizations, foundations and private donors to finance this garden expansion at Handaga, which eventually will grow to include the entire Tera region's villages.