Affala

Region

Affala (also: Afala ) is a rural municipality in the department of Tahoua in Niger.

Geography

Affala lies in the Sahel. The neighboring municipalities are Tillia in the north, Kao in the northeast, Barmou in the southeast, south and Tahoua in Takanamat in the West. The municipality is divided into 13 administrative villages, 24 traditional villages, 35 hamlets and three camps. The main town of the rural community is the administrative village Affala.

History

Affala was founded by a farmers from the neighboring Barmou. The rural community Affala went out in 2002 as part of a nationwide administrative reform from the northern part of the canton of Tahoua and a southern portion of the unincorporated area in the department Tchintabaraden.

Population

At the 2001 census Affala had 34 101 inhabitants. For the year 2010 45.945 inhabitants were calculated. The main ethnic groups in the municipal area are the Hausa, Tuareg and Fulani. Affala is affected for decades by emigration movements that are directed primarily to Libya, Cameroon, Gabon, Senegal and Europe.

Economy and infrastructure

The operated anywhere in the municipality includes the growing of crops of millet, sorghum, cowpea and peanuts and suffers from low rainfall, poor soils and lack of modern farming techniques. The livestock of cattle, goats, donkeys and horses is the second most important economic activity in the rural community. There are five weekly markets in Affala, but allow their poor infrastructure just tax revenue for the community. A desert road connecting the capital with its 25 km further south regional capital Tahoua.