Perched on the edge of the Sahara Desert, Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. As the desert moves southward, making the land ever less fertile, even a brief period of drought can lead to famine. Several efforts have sprung up in recent years to try to break the drought-famine link. One that has proven especially effective is Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, or FMNR, a system developed in the 1980s by an enterprising farmer in Burkina Faso, Niger’s western neighbor.

But for each step forward, population growth takes Niger two steps back.

This video was produced by the Under-Told Stories Project and The Center for Investigative Reporting.

Reporter: Fred de Sam Lazaro
Producer and camera: Cassandra Herrman
Editors: Cassandra Herrman and David Ritsher
Consulting producer: Stephen Talbot
Series producer: Cassandra Herrman
Executive producer: Sharon Tiller