INTRODUCTION:

The goal of this presentation is to examine the impact of uranium mining on the Tuareg community of the Air Mountains of northern Niger. Uranium is the main natural resource of Niger and its principal export.

The report is anchored in a lived reality and experience of the Tuareg people whose habitat was invaded by mining companies. Their mode of subsistence and habitat were seriously affected by the implantation of those concerns on their territory, with direct consequences on their social and economic circumstances.

Geography and Demography:

Niger is a sub-Saharan country of West Africa, which obtained its independence from France on August 3rd, 1960. It has a population of about 10 million people over a superficies of 1,267,000 km2. French is the official language.

The average density of its population is 6.6 per km2. It is populated by various ethnies, Tuareg, Zarma, Hausa, Kariouri, Toubous, Peuls, Arabs and

Gourmantches. Demographic growth is calculated at 3.2%. More than 98% of its population practice the religion of Islam. Christianity and Animism are present.

Life expectancy is 46 years.

43% of the population of Niger has access to health care.

Infantile mortality is 130 for every 1,000 births, or 13%.

Education: In 1999, the literacy rate was established at 30.13%.

Primary sectors of raw production are agriculture, herding, forests and wood industry, fishing, and mines.

Industrial production includes arts and crafts. Insurance, transport, banking, tourism complete the distributive sector of this economy which is characterized by periods of expansion and periods or regression.

The primary natural resource of Niger is uranium.

The national average annual income is $300.

Because of the permanent danger of climatic unknowns and in the face of a constant economic crisis, Niger has concentrated on food security as a primary objective of its politics of development.

TUAREGS OF THE AIR REGION - MODE OF LIFE

The autochthonous people of Niger are essentially pastoral herders, semi-nomadic groups that travel in search of pastures for their cattle. The Tuaregs of Niger speak Tamasheq, and practice the religion of Islam within a cohesive social Tuareg context. Their territory and its natural resources belong to the community and are used in a collective manner by all nomads.

The principal economic activity of the Tuaregs remains an extensive form of herding of small cattle consisting primarily of goats and sheep with cows and camels and some donkeys. This traditional mode of subsistence brings little money.

Irrigation allows some form of cultivation on a small scale, through rudimentary means of production which do not produce very large returns.

Crafts are also exercised by women and some artisans with traditional means, on a limited archaic basis.

Trade is limited to the sale of small animals, by-products of animal breeding, coal, kindling wood, and other items of gathering.

The exploitation of uranium by foreign companies provided very few direct benefits to autochthonous populations. Yet, global economic development should have an impact on the evolution of these populations, in the sense that a higher standard of living could impact on conditions of everyday life. For instance, increase in income could ameliorate conditions of health, education, nutrition, and consequently affect mortality and life expectancy.

One must recall that groups or Tuareg tribes who are the original autochthonous people of that zone occupy the habitat harboring the zone of uranium exploitation.

The town and district of Arlit are at the center of this zone of uranium exploitation in Niger. Arlit is located at 240 kms north of Agadez. For the unadvised on-looker, as soon as the name of Arlit is mentioned, it evokes an urban development peopled with a variety of people, including the Tuareg, with a display of a certain amount of material and social ease. However, in reality, this administrative entity can be divided into two zones, very distinct one from the other, in all aspects:

• The urban zone corresponds to the city and township of Arlit proper. It is essentially inhabited by non-autochthonous populations imported from all other regions of Niger for the needs of two mining companies that exploit uranium: SOMAIR and COMINAK. Other industrial activities have grown around this area.

• The rural zone, which is the area that interests us in the context of this report, and which is peopled by the nomadic Tuaregs. An enormous gap exists between the two sectors in all domains. People in the rural zone experience severe difficulties in securing means of subsistence. We have not benefited from any substantial aid, and have been overlooked for a very long time, left to ourselves without any intervention or assistance in economic development. The State and territorial authorities, despite some concerted efforts, do not provide even one fourth (1/4) of the needs of the autochthonous Tuareg people, the first inhabitants of the land where uranium is exploited.

It is high time to reverse the tendency toward continued degradation of our life style, but also to create conditions necessary to a renewed hope of life in the rural zone of Arlit on an extended, reinforced basis. In this context, it will be essential to consider a vast program allowing a framework of support acceptable to the Tuaregs to give them back the dignity of self-subsistence and the dignity of adequate living in their own ancestral habitat.

Uranium remains the main export of Niger, despite the fact that its percentage of the national export has fallen from 81.6% in 1979 to a figure of 74.6% in 1989. Other products of export such as cattle, leather and skins, and agricultural products have increased in relationship to it, from 19% in 1979 to 25.4% in 1989. The overall dreary economic picture of the country of Niger has led the State to take a number of measures aimed at a healthy renewal of its overall economy: a Stabilization Program, a Structural Adjustment Program, and various national investment programs.

In the Tuareg region, uranium is exploited by two mining concerns:

• SOMAIR (Mining Company of Niger) opened its doors in 1968 with an exploitation of 2,000 tons annually. The exploitation of uranium by SOMAIR is an open-air extraction.

• COMINAK (Mining Company of Akouta) was created in 1975 and began its exploitation in 1978 with an annual production of 2,000 tons.

Thanks to the implantation of these mining companies, the area has been included in the overall road system of Niger, and the district of Arlit was born. Its population is about 15,000 of non-local residents. The birth of economic activities and the style of life of this imported work force have had a definite impact on the region.

The population of the entire area has been exposed to pollution and the considerable dangers of radiation since the creation of these industrial concerns in 1968 and 1975. Moreover, waters utilized by these companies are let out into the environment without being treated. These very untreated waters are in turn used by local people coming to the area in search of employment, who resort to gardening in order to obtain a basic food supply and a little money. On the other hand, these untreated waters constitute a source of propagation for parasites, such as the "Plasmodium" agent, which causes malaria. This parasite is the primary cause of infantile mortality in general, pregnancy difficulties and an enormous amount of suffering among pregnant women.

The Tuaregs of the Air Region have learned from past errors lessons that, if fraught with frustration, have led to a number of recommendations for the future. Our concerns are not only for a rational use of natural potential but equally for a reversal of perspective on the part of Tuaregs who heretofore have been nomadic populations.

The cattle wealth for each nomad is generally constituted by a few heads, which reproduce twice a year when pasture and zoological conditions are good. But after the periods of total drought of 1974/1975 and 1984/1985, and the long span of armed rebellion, the last three years have witnessed a renewal of socio-economic activities in the regions most affected by the drought and the armed rebellion, backed by a partnership for development.

Overall, and aside from its ore, the mining zone conceals a potential heretofore left non exploited, notably the availability of fertile lands with water resources sufficient in quantity and quality for cultivation, and vast expanses of pasture areas. Finally, a considerable rural work force is available.

So, taking into consideration the potentiality described above, concrete development of the region can be undertaken under an efficient program of development. Such a program would no doubt create employment and an opportunity for both individual income and a regional source of revenue. In its operation, several challenges are to be met.

Climate: The climate is dry and hot in the uranium zone, with topography of a vast plain and desert plateaus. Rainfall is irregular in space and time.

Environment: Population growth has consequences on our environment, already affected by long periods of drought, and the continued degradation of our Eco-system. Under the pressure of constant demographic growth, the seeking of new areas for cultivation, increasing pasture lands and the consumption of more kindling wood, adequate measures would be required to meet increasing needs, while actual ones are not even met.

Health Care: The social statute of women does not favor their full participation in the economy of the country. Moreover, if we take into consideration the general economic situation of today, the trend is toward the diminution of individual family income with a devastating impact on the health of mothers and children. For the populations localized in this zone of uranium exploitation, there is a severe need for doctors, nurses, midwives, clinics and medical infrastructures, beds, and pharmaceutical products, etc… These needs are expected to increase while actual needs are not even met today.

Education: The percentage of schooled children in the region is 30.13% of the national average, one of the lowest in Niger. In short, 69.87% of the people of the area have no access to schools and we must face a growing number of children of school age from families with not enough income to permit the cost of sending them to schools.

Emigration and Employment: Our youth is unemployed. Despite the presence of these industrial concerns and their impact on economic, social and cultural sectors, migratory patterns of our people is not well known. Yet, it is precisely such patterns that affect the present day lack of equilibrium observed in the spatial distribution of Tuareg population, a consequence of emigration.

Urban Development: The influx of rural populations toward cities in search of employment causes serious problems in cities, and most particularly so in urban centers based on the exploitation of natural resources such as uranium. In such a context, the drawbacks include a source of disagreement among autochthonous people with the resulting increase of an exodus towards the countries of North Africa ranging from six months to five years and more.

The overall and specific objectives of developing the area include the following:

1. The improvement of health care and nutritional care of the Tuareg populations and the reduction of the high rate of morbidity and mortality.
2. The improvement of the basic conditions of life for these populations.
3. The improvement of the present educational facilities and system.
4. The improvement of conditions of life for our youth and women.
5. The improvement of data collection on social and economic issues.

1. Specific:

1. The development of adequate sanitary conditions by :

1. The appointment of human resources in the domain of health care.
2. The development of the area in health care providing.
3. The reinforcement of clinics and health-care facilities in rural zones.

1. The reduction of mortality and more particularly in maternal and infant mortality.
2. The improvement of maternal and infantile quality care.
3. The diminution of malnutrition.
4. The creation of accessible services in family planning, and a program for the education of our people in family planning.
5. The increase of contraceptive means in urban and rural zones.
6. The improvement of diet, and food supplies.

CONCLUSION

The most crucial problems exist in a lack of balance between a demographic growth, which is fairly high, and the level of available resources. The high maternal and infantile mortality rates, problems of public health, problems of education, of employment, of nutrition, of migratory movements and the degradation of the environment remain the principal challenges to meet. No efficient tackling of the situation in these domains can be envisioned unless actions are conducted in a framework of governmental policies, which will assume their share of aid to the populations and can be combined with the support of partnerships for development.