TITLE:
Management of Water Resources in the Peri-Urban Area of Niamey for Vegetable Production: Case Study of Three Ponds (Yaboni, Bangou Bi and Bangou Kirey)
AUTHORS:
Boubacar Ibrahim, Souley Abdou Oumarou, Bernhard Tischbein, Navneet Kumar, Sarah Verleysdonk
KEYWORDS:
Water Resources, Peri-Urban Gardening, Vegetable Production, Irrigation, Sahel
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.16 No.9,
September
8,
2025
ABSTRACT: Mobilizing water resources in the Sahel region presents significant challenges. Both surface water and groundwater are subjected to various pressures that hamper their effective management. In the peri-urban area of Niamey, these water resources are primarily used for agricultural production, especially for market gardening during the dry season. Beside river Niger and aquifers, ponds in the valleys around Niamey are used as water sources. This study aims to assess the dynamics of three specific ponds, examining their current exploitation and their potentialities for agricultural production. Different measurements have been carried out around the three selected ponds during two rainy seasons and one dry season (from May 2019 to October 2020). The measurements include rainfall, piezometry, and water volumes. A bathymetry survey was also performed on each pond. The results revealed a significant increase in water volumes during the rainy season, followed by a persistent depletion during the dry season. The increase in water level in the ponds varies from 1.44 m to 3.6 m depending on the rainfall amount during the rainy season. The annual hydrological balance of the ponds showed that a considerable portion of the inflow in the ponds is lost through evaporation and infiltration. However, the amount of water used for gardening around the ponds produces an important quantity of vegetables during the dry season. This production of vegetables offers a considerable economic potential to farmers due to the close proximity to Niamey. The market gardening production system contributes to strengthening the resilience of farmers against the harmful effects of climate change like food insecurity and income reduction.