Author: Xing Geng He was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1960 and has been engaged in diplomatic work in Africa since 1964, successively serving as the third secretary of the embassy in the Congo, the second secretary of the embassy in Gabon (during which he assisted in the establishment of the embassy in Sao Tome and Principe for more than half a year), the head of the Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the counsellor and establishment of the embassy in Côte d'Ivoire, the ambassador to the Republic of Niger (1985.12-1990.2), and the ambassador of the diplomatic history research office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Republic of Niger is a landlocked country located on the southern edge of west-central Africa and the Sahara Desert. Its map is shaped like a giant tilapia, and the Niger River, Africa's third largest river, quietly runs through its southwestern "tail" and is about 550 kilometers long in Niger, from which the name of the country is derived.
• Niamey, capital of the Republic of Niger
Niger has a land area of more than 1.26 million square kilometers, which is slightly larger than the Tibet Autonomous Region on the mainland, but the northeastern region, which accounts for 60% of the country's area, is a vast desert with no rain, desolation and heat all year round, the central region, which accounts for about 30% of the country's area, is a semi-desert nomadic area, and only the Lake Chad Basin in the southeast and the Niger River Basin in the southwest, which account for about 10% of the country's land area, are agricultural areas.
Flag of Niger
The three horizontal bars from top to bottom orange, white and green represent the natural geography of Niger: orange symbolizes the northern desert, white and an orange-yellow sun in the center of the bar symbolizes strong sunlight, and green symbolizes tropical forests, grasslands and crops in the south.
Niger is one of the hottest countries in the world and is known as the "furnace" of West Africa. The northern part has a tropical desert climate and the southern part has a savannah climate, but it is basically a Sahara-type climate, with an average annual temperature of more than 30 °C. The capital city of Niamey is also known as the "capital of odd heat", with an average annual temperature of 28.9°C. April-May is the hottest month of the year, with dry air and temperatures of up to 50°C during the day and over 60°C in the midday sun.
There is a pamphlet that states that when the car is parked in the sun, the metal doorknob is like a fire, and if you don't wear gloves to open the door, your hands will be blistered at once. Take the car out, even if there is no air conditioning equipment in the car, it is best not to open the window when the car is running, otherwise the scorching wind will blow towards you, which will make people feel like they are in the mouth of the blast furnace, hot, very uncomfortable.
At night, although the temperature drops, it is probably 35°C-36°C, and if the air conditioner is not turned on, it is like sleeping in the hearth. During this season, mosquitoes and flies seem to be killed by heat, rarely seen, and when it does not rain, mosquitoes and flies lose their breeding ground. Fortunately, the humidity here is low, which is better than the humidity and heat of West African coastal countries, and the sweat on the body evaporates as soon as it comes out, and it will not stick to the body.
But every year in June and October, when the rainy season is at both ends, the air humidity rises and the rain is trying to fall, which is the most unbearably sweltering time of the year. July-September is the rainy season. Due to the rain, the heat level has eased, and despite the high humidity and the abundance of mosquitoes and insects at night, people still feel relatively comfortable.
November to February is the "golden season" for tourism in Niger. The sky is high and cool, the wind is fair, the air is fresh and the climate is pleasant. In the capital Niamey, the major tourist attractions, tourists are like clouds; Major hotels, restaurants, business is prosperous. January and February are the coolest months of the year, with nighttime temperatures as low as 10°C and blankets for sleep, and temperatures around 25°C at noon. However, the Niger do not like this season very much, because they are particularly susceptible to illness.
Drought and low rainfall are another characteristic of Niger's climate. There is basically no rain in the whole country except for the rainy season from July to September, and if there is, it only falls a few drops in March, which the locals call "mango rain". Most of the rainy season is rain every few days, and there are mostly thunderstorms, and the rain is sunny and it is rarely rainy. Rainfall gradually decreases from south to north. 600-800 mm of rainfall in the steppe region of southern Sudan; Niamey is 600 mm; Annual rainfall in the central Sahel region is about 200-500 mm; The northern Sahara region is almost rainless all year round.
Water is a very valuable thing in Niger, especially in the arid regions of the north, where drinking water for people and livestock is very difficult. The highest courtesy for the people to greet government officials and dignitaries is to present a spoonful of water from a deep well. Due to severe water shortage, people do not wash their faces or bathe all year round. Some people say that "Niger has nine droughts in ten years", which is not an exaggeration. Agriculture, which depends on the sky, has a poor harvest almost every year. Whenever the drought rages, the red land is thousands of miles, and even the huge Niger River stops flowing!
Desertification in the Niger has been severely affected by drought and lack of rain, combined with extensive grazing and deforestation, which has resulted in the destruction of vegetation. According to the FAO office in Niger, the Sahara Desert is advancing an average of 6-10 kilometers southward every year. Heading north out of Niamey, there are not many trees in sight, and there is ochre and yellow sand everywhere. When the sun is scorching, it is difficult to find shade trees that can shade the sun and stop for a nap. It is only during the short rainy season that the desolate sandy ground turns a little green, constituting the annual "spring".
• Farmers in Niger are clearing their fields in preparation for the upcoming rainy season.
Every year, on the occasion of the rainy season, the Government of Niger calls on and mobilizes the people of the whole country to plant trees, and the head of state personally leads military and political officials to take the lead in setting an example. However, due to the lack of rainwater, the survival rate of saplings is very low. Nearly 98 percent of urban and rural residents burn firewood for cooking. To this end, about 2 million tons of firewood are burned every year, and hundreds of thousands of hectares of land are destroyed, thus aggravating the degree of desertification.
Desertification has reduced the area of grasslands and pastures, seriously affecting the development of pastoralism, the second pillar of the country's economy. It is often seen that the lean sheep cannot find grass to eat, but eat the leaves, shoots and bark of small trees; When the low leaves and branches are eaten, the sheep stand up on their hind legs, and at the same time stretch their necks vigorously in order to eat the higher leaves and branches, or put their front hooves on the trunk and gnaw the bark; The leaves, branches and bark that can be obtained are eaten, and the plastic food bags thrown away by tourists are eaten, and so on.
Locust plagues are frequent in Niger. The author has witnessed the tragedy of locust plagues. Locusts flew in, whistling and overwhelming, and everywhere they went, in the blink of an eye, large areas of crop seedlings were swept away, and even the young leaves of small trees were eaten, leaving only bare branches. Driving on Niamey Street, locusts pounced on the windshield like heavy raindrops, and the dense locust corpses obscured the line of sight, and had to use the wiper to keep cleaning.
After the swarm, yellow-green and yellow-brown locusts crawled and jumped everywhere on the roofs and yards. There are many types of locusts, and the most harmful is the flying locust, which is large, has strong flying power and high reproductive rate. The FAO Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Niger specializes in ways to combat locust plagues. In the event of a disaster, Niger mobilized the whole country, and the military and civilians mobilized to eradicate locusts. The main method is to eliminate the locust occurrence base according to the reproductive characteristics and habits of locusts, and before the locusts grow up and take off, spray medicinal powder with aircraft or equipment, spread poisonous bait, or organize the masses to dig ditches to bury, burn and fight.
• Niamey, the capital of Niger, was hit by a severe sandstorm
From November to April each year, an atmospheric disaster occurs in Niger, known locally as "dry fog". It is actually made up of extremely fine clay and sand particles, and the density of floating dust is very large. Whenever a sandstorm occurs in the Sahara Desert, this earthy yellow "dry fog" moves from northeast to southwest on the Hamedan wind (a hot and dry air mass of the Sahara) that often blows during this period, and soon reaches the Niamey area.
"Dry fog" hit, the sky was dark, chaotic, the visibility was extremely low, and the scenery tens of meters away could not be seen; The air is full of choking breath, making people feel that they can't breathe. Under the "dry fog", if people stay outside for ten minutes, their bodies will be dyed earthy yellow, stomp their feet, and the sand and dust will fall one after another.
This "dry fog" often does not dissipate for several days. By this weather, the aircraft could not take off and land. The Niger people are also most afraid of it, because when the "dry fog" comes, plants wither, people and animals are depressed, and diseases such as upper respiratory diseases, measles and meningitis are also spread.
Niger is one of the world's least developed countries declared by the United Nations. Its geographical environment and natural conditions are indeed far inferior to many coastal countries in West Africa. There is abundant rainfall, fertile land, and wild bananas, mangoes, coconuts, monkey breadfruit, and so on. When people are hungry, they can pick these wild fruits to fill their hunger, and when they are thirsty, they have sweet coconut water to drink, although they cannot live well, but they will not starve to death and die of thirst.
A leader of São Tomé and Príncipe once proudly told me a story about the legend that a long time ago, two old men met on the road and sat down on the side of the road to chat. When they got up to say goodbye and prepare to continue their journey, they found that the two crutches they were holding had taken root in the ground. This is certainly a myth, but it illustrates the superiority of the country's natural conditions. However, Niger does not have such good conditions, but some suffer from extreme heat, drought, wind and sand, and famine. As a friend in Niger said: "In Niger, if you do not work hard, you will only die of hunger and thirst!" ”
In order to survive and develop in such a harsh natural geographical environment, the people of Niger have been fighting against heaven and earth for many years and striving to conquer and transform nature. It is precisely such harsh circumstances that have created the hardworking, simple, courageous, tenacious and hard-working character of the people of Niger.
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Text | West Asia Africa
Author | Xing Geng
Image | Originating from the web
Edit | The diplomat said something Xiao Ha