By using the foods provided by these perennials, we uncover vital nutritional benefits that can play a key role in addressing the pressing malnutrition challenges of our age. At the same time, we create livelihoods and economic incentives around these native plants, motivating rural family farmers and nomadic communities to protect and propagate them, thus effectively combating desertification and helping to  restore fragile ecosystems.

As a result, we now boast an assortment of 60 different products made from 21 woody species, created in collaboration with a network of approximately 2,000 women across 80 villages, mainly in the Zinder and Maradi provinces of Niger.

SSF has received a grant of €10,000 (ten thousand euros) from the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) through the Knowledge for Great Green Wall Action (K4GGWA) programme, funded by the European Union. This grant will help implement the next phase of the project, which will focus on three key initiatives:

• Accelerating the development of the pseudocereal production chain to meet the Ministry of Education’s demand, with a particular focus on products derived from Boscia senegalensis;
• Establishing a franchise system, beginning with the separation of Sahara Sahel Foods into two different entities, one to hold intellectual property (products, tools, applications, brands, etc.) and control its use by future franchisees, and the other being a commercial entity that integrates the daily operations currently undertaken by Sahara Sahel Foods;
• Refining and improving raw material processing tools and their packaging.