Nigeriens Demand Greater Environmental Action, but Not At Expense of Jobs and Incomes

Most favour tighter regulation of natural resource extraction to reduce its negative impact on the environment.

Key findings

More than seven in 10 Nigeriens (72%) say pollution is a “somewhat serious” or “very serious” problem in their community. Citizens cite deforestation (36%), trash disposal (18%), and human waste management (16%) as the most important environmental issues in their community. An overwhelming majority (87%) of citizens say plastic bags are a major source of pollution in Niger.

While half (51%) of Nigeriens think the government is doing a good job of reducing pollution and protecting the environment, an overwhelming majority (84%) say it needs to do more.

But if environmental protection policies threaten jobs and incomes, a majority (65%) of citizens say jobs and incomes should be prioritised.

More than half (53%) of respondents say the primary responsibility for reducing pollution and keeping communities clean rests with the national government. Others would defer that responsibility to ordinary citizens (20%) or the local government (19%).

Nearly six in 10 Nigeriens (58%) say the benefits of natural resource extraction, such as jobs and revenue, outweigh negative impacts such as pollution. But most (74%) want the government to regulate natural resource extraction more tightly to reduce its negative impact on the environment.

Majorities of interviewees believe that citizens have a say in decisions affecting natural resource extraction (63%) and that communities in Niger receive their fair share of revenues from extraction activities (55%).

Niger is endowed with abundant natural resources, including oil and coal, minerals ranging from uranium to gold, as well as a rich variety of flora and fauna (World Atlas, 2019).

But with a rapidly growing and urbanising population (Goujon, Marois, & Sabourin, 2021), the country faces significant environmental threats exacerbated by the effects of climate change, including pollution of the air and the Niger River, drought, flooding, soil degradation, deforestation, and desertification (Favreau et al., 2009; Potts, Gidi, Campbell, & Zureick, 2011; World Bank Group, 2024; Forum Environnemental National, 2021). On average, drought affects about 4 million Nigeriens each year, while floods impact 100,000 (Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, 2024).

Niger has had a national plan for the environment for sustainable development and a legal framework for environmental management since 1998 (Republic of Niger, 1998). The government also confronts the environmental threats facing the country in its Economic and Social Development Strategy and initiatives such as its Renaissance Program, focused on land restoration and management to combat land degradation, ensure food security, and promote sustainable practices (World Bank Group, 2023).

This dispatch reports on a special survey module included in the Afrobarometer Round 9 questionnaire that explores citizens’ experiences and perceptions of pollution, environmental governance, and natural resource extraction.

Findings show that Nigeriens are deeply concerned about pollution but rank deforestation as the most important environmental issue in their communities. Most Nigeriens say the government should do a lot more to protect the environment, although two-thirds say this should not come at the expense of creating jobs or boosting incomes.

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Most citizens say primary responsibility for protecting the environment lies with the national and local governments, while others call on their fellow citizens to be at the frontline of environmental protection.

A majority of respondents say the benefits of natural resource extraction, such as jobs and revenue, outweigh the costs, such as pollution, but an even larger majority call for tighter government regulation of the extraction industry in order to reduce its negative impacts on the environment.

Marcelline Amouzou is a PhD student in political science at the University of Florida.

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