The Impact of Property Land Rights on the Production of Paddy Rice in the Tillabéry, Niamey and Dosso Regions of Niger

Food security is one of the major challenges that countries like Niger must take up. Of all the cooperatives set up in Niger, those dealing with rice production, which are the subject of the present study, are the most interesting from the point of view of peasant organizations. In this respect, farmed land belongs to the state which distributes irrigated plots to beneficiaries who are owner farmers, often identified through a socioeconomic survey. The present study, while showing that being a tenant has a positive and significant impact on rice production, argues for greater and more responsible involvement of the state through an autonomous rice board charged with renting land for rice production. The study recommends avenues for achieving food security by increasing the production of rice through increasing the land area for irrigation and allotting land for rice growing to those who can farm it.