NIGER TRIP REPORTS (1) ILLELA: LESSONS LEARNED FROM SMALL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NIAMEY 000128

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE, SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR AF/W, BACHMAN; PASS TO USAID FOR KTOWERS; PARIS FOR AFRICA
WATCHER; INR/AA FOR BOGOSIAN; ACCRA AND DAKAR FOR USAID
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EAGR EAID ECON SOCI SMIG SENV NG
SUBJECT: NIGER TRIP REPORTS (1) ILLELA: LESSONS LEARNED FROM SMALL
TOWN NIGER

REF: 06 NIAMEY 1141

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SUMMARY
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1. (U) In December, Poloff conducted extensive travel to Niger's
Tahoua and Agadez Regions. One outcome was a series of in-house trip
reports providing readers with background on the issues, people, and
preoccupations of several key towns and sub-regions. With the
expectation that such a "virtual tour" of Niger would provide useful
background for a broader audience of Niger watchers, this cable
series will provide front-channel versions of those trip reports.
The first stop on this virtual tour of northern and central Niger is
Illela, a town one hour south of the central Nigerien city of
Tahoua; seat of a prominent traditional chief and "chef lieu" (seat)
of Illela's urban commune and department. Illela is interesting
precisely because it is ordinary. A stand in for so many other
towns in the agro-pastoral belt, it affords a realistic view of life
in rural Niger. END SUMMARY

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OVERVIEW OF TOWN AND COMMUNE
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2. (U) Illela is the seat both of an urban commune and an entire
Department NOTE: a Department is the next level up from a commune in
the Nigerien administrative hierarchy: there are 265 communes, 36
departments, and 8 regions; thus far, communes are the only
administrative entities to boast elected governments, although the
corpus of decentralization law envisions eventual elections for
Department and Regional level governments. Departments are currently
run by appointed Prefects, and Regions by appointed Governors. Both
answer to the Minister of the Interior END NOTE.


3. (U) Illela's Prefect, Ali Djadje, was absent during Poloff's
visit. Poloff met his immediate deputy, the Secretary General (SG),
Abdou Ango. The Chef de Canton d'Illela (Serkin Illela) is Elhadji
Kadi Oumani. Illela Department's population in 2001 was 256,813.
Roughly 80% of the population is Hausa; the remainder is Zarma,
Tuareg, and Foulani.


4. (U) Several NGO's and IO's are present: the Italian cooperation
entity CILSS, Concern, and the Red Cross. NGO/IO Intervention
priorities include: malnutrition (Red Cross),poverty reduction and
control of desertification (Italians),emergency feeding / schools
and healthcare (Concern).


5. (SBU) GON installations include: the Prefecture; bases for two
paramilitary police units, the National Forces for Intervention and
Security (FNIS),and the Gendarmerie (each has one "Brigade" of
approx. 30 officers),and a local hospital supported by UNICEF.
Communications: Illela has Celtel cellular telephone service
(covering a 30km radius from the town center),while competing cell
phone service provider Telecel has a tower up but has not yet begun
service. The town has no internet access.

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LESSONS ON TRADITIONAL CHIEFTAINCY
AND A WORD ON TRADITIONAL SLAVERY
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6. (U) Poloff initially decided to stop in Illela to learn more
about traditional slavery in Niger and about an influential royal
house that has done much to combat it. Moustapha Kadi Oumani, an
anti-slavery activist and leading figure in the Nigerien civil
society movement known as the Coalition Equite Qualite hails from
here. He is the oldest son of the traditional Chef de Canton
d'Illela. NOTE: Illela is the capital of the traditional region of
the same name, which denotes the chief's domain, but no longer
corresponds to an administrative boundary. END NOTE Some years ago,
Kadi convinced his father to free all of the family's slaves,
setting an important example in a region where this problem has deep
roots. Illela is the northern point in what anti-slavery NGO
Timidria's President, Ilguilas Weila, describes as the "triangle of
shame," an area where traditional slavery is still frequently
practiced. The triangle's south-western and south-eastern points
are, respectively, Birni N'Konni and Madaoua.


7. (U) The father of the current Chef de Canton was an influential
man in former Nigerien dictator Seyni Kountche's time (1974-1987),
and the Canton Chieftaincy of Illela remains powerful and well
respected. NOTE: Nigerien traditional chieftaincy consists of three
levels, ranked hierarchically: chefs de village or, in cities and
larger towns, chefs de quartier (neighborhood); chefs de canton, who
are elected by their subsidiary village or neighborhood chiefs;
three Chefs de Provance (Province) in Dosso, Tibiri(the Serkin
Gobir),and Maradi city (Serkin Katsina). They are elected by
subsidiary village and canton chiefs. Finally, there are two

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Sultans: Air (Agadez) and Damagaram (Zinder). Like the others, the
Sultans are elected for life-terms by subsidiary chiefs. In
contemporary Niger, the traditional chieftaincy has a role as both
conservator and, occasionally, reformer of tradition. END NOTE


8. (U) Poloff was unable to meet the Chief, who, along with the
Prefect, was called away to supervise the election of a new village
chief in a place called "Ratta." Nigerien villages elect their
chiefs, usually from among competing noble families. The Ministry of
the Interior (represented in this instance by the Prefect)
supervises the elections. Poloff took advantage of the spare time to
learn about a model development project.

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REFORESTATION: OLD USAID/PEACE CORPS PROJECT
STILL BEARING FRUIT:
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9. (SBU) Secretary General (SG) Ango is a forestry official,
originally from Birni N' Konni. Forestry cadre civil servants do not
usually rise to the level of SGs - Ecole Nationale pour
l'Administration et Magistrature (ENAM) graduates tend to get those
jobs. Ango was probably a political appointee, but appeared a good
choice for Illela by virtue of his prior experience. He ran the
successful "Pastoral Management" project in Illela from 2002-2006,
when he took over as SG. Ango's overview of the project explained
how and why Niger is "greener now than 30 years ago," (reftel). It
also shows how an old USAID / Peace Corps intervention is still
yielding fruit.


10. (U) USAID gave the Illela- Keita-Bouza triangle priority for
its initial natural resource management projects in Niger in the
late 1970s. These projects were funded by USAID and implemented by
CARE and the Peace Corps. The work done in this area was held up as
a model for the rest of the Sahel, and continues to inspire
reclamation efforts to this day.


11. (U) One such contemporary effort is on display just south of
Illela. Funded by the African Development Bank and the African
Development Fund and implemented by the Ministry of Hydrology,
Environment, and Fight against Desertification, the Illela project
covers 1,749 hectares of eroded, rocky ground just south of town.
1,230 hectares are listed as "degraded land," (read: eroded; limited
top soil washed away by too much rain, leaving only rock); 519
hectares are listed as "wooded areas;" and, 390 hectares are listed
as having been otherwise "reclaimed." While "reclaimed" land is good
for grazing animals, the 390 hectares of "wooded" land appears the
most successful aspect of this project. Rife with potential for
income generation and soil replenishment, the woods were loaded with
marketable and usable plants. Gum Arabic trees were prominent, as
were the latex shrubs used by locals to seal wounds, and other
plants such as Andropogon Guyanense, which is used for thatch. Still
others were used for animal fodder or firewood.


12. (U) Illela town and seven nearby villages share the pastoral
site. A 2003 estimate indicated that the locals could harvest as
much as 6 million CFA ($12,000) worth of fodder from the reclaimed
area each year. This year, however, they only took out about 2
million CFA ($4,000) worth. SG Ango praised a former Peace Corps
Volunteer (PCV) who had done a study in 2004, which indicated that
the site could provide up to: 9 tones of Gunna (desert melon) for
food; 5.6 tones of Cassia Tora for food; and 5.5 tones of malohiya
for a traditional Nigerien green sauce, among other things. The PCV
had left Ango with a slick PowerPoint presentation on the project,
on which he relied extensively during his presentation to us.


13. (U) Gum arabic trees can produce sap after only four years,
though it is better to wait until their production reaches full
stride, usually between 5 and 15 years of age. After a tree reaches
16 years of age, production steadily declines, though good
stewardship can keep it productive until age 25.


14. (U) Conclusion: The Illela reclamation project is a symbol of
what Niger can get right with a little external financing and a
"sensitized" local population. As noted reftel, community buy-in
based on the demonstrated profitability of such ventures is
essential to their acceptance and success. While Illela and the
surrounding villages are not yet realizing all of the profits
predicted for them in 2004, they are off to a good start and getting
a much needed economic shot in the arm. END COMMENT

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Food Security and Agricultural Development:
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15. (U) SG Ango noted that Illela was part of the "Red Band" of
food insecurity (evidently so called because of its depiction on the
color-coded maps of food-security donors) that runs from Ouallam
through Illela, Tanout, and Goure to N'Guigmi. Noting that Illela

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faces "chronic food deficits," Ango expressed gratitude for Concern
and Red Cross efforts. One of the principal challenges to
agricultural productivity is top-soil erosion caused by extensive
rainfall.


16. (U) Whenever it rains in Illela, it pours. The town has always
had a problem with erosion. Its broad streets are subject to
inundation during the rainy season, and the channels that crisscross
them attest to the destructive effects of the water on local
infrastructure. While Illela was spared the fate of Bilma and Ingall
(two Nigerien towns whose mud-architecture collapsed following heavy
rains last year, leading to a minor humanitarian crisis) 2006 was a
year of heavy rainfall, and the SG noted that this had made it
difficult for some people to farm normally. The town is divided into
two parts (roughly 1/3 and 2/3) by a seasonal watercourse that
becomes impassable at the height of the rainy season. Lacking a
modern bridge or barrage, "Kietaray," the smaller 1/3 portion, is
isolated from the rest of town. During the winter season, people use
that watercourse as a gardening site to produce guavas, lemons,
lettuce, and cabbage, making the best out of a sub-optimal
situation.

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EXODE AND THE "REMITTANCE ECONOMY:"
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17. (U) Tahoua region is famous for "exode" - seasonal labor
migration toward the West African coast. Illela is no exception in
general terms, though geography and culture influence destination.
While the Tuaregs of Tchintabaraden and Abalak head for Libya and
Algeria, the Hausas of Illela beat a path toward Cote D'Ivoire,
apparently unfazed by that country's tarnished promise.


18. (U) "Quartier Plateau," which features new concrete houses that
are small but well-adorned and conspicuous in this town of
traditional baked-mud "banco" architecture might explain the
continued allure of the coast. Built by Illelans who had gone to
Cote D'Ivoire and engaged in small commerce, these status symbols
represented both the success of the "exodants" and the aspirations
of so many others like them. Its promise evident in brick and
mortar, "exode" seems a tradition with a long future ahead of it.


19. (SBU) Perhaps because of the traditional focus on Cote
D'Ivoire, little in the way of Nigerian cultural export was evident
in Illela. There are no foreign financed mosques or Koranic schools.
Most children go to government schools and attend traditional, Sufi,
Koranic schools in the evenings. While discussions with traditional
chiefs and religious leaders would provide more grounding for this
general impression, there seemed to be little evidence of a move
toward Nigerian-style "Izala" fundamentalism in Illela.

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CONCLUSION: MIDDLETOWN, NIGER
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20. (U) Everything seemed to be on an even keel in this typically
Nigerien town. Decentralization seemed to be going smoothly, with no
real conflict between the locally elected officials and the Prefect.
According to the SG, none of the commune council's actions had
raised legal issues (one of the Prefect's responsibilities is to
review commune decisions to ensure consistency with law and
administrative regulations). From the potential of the land
reclamation project to the problems of hunger and erosion, to the
promise of the remittance culture, Illela's successes and challenges
provide a snapshot of life and hope in provincial Niger. ALLEN