Impact of Cultural Practice, Socio-economic Level and Environment on the Profitability of the Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Niger (West Africa)

Phoeniciculture, or date palm cultivation plays a major socio-economic and ecological role. However, few studies have quantified the drivers of date palm cultivation and its socio-economic and environmental benefits in West African Sahel. Therefore, this study assessed the effect of anthropic and environmental factors on quantitative and qualitative production of dates palm in Niger. We conducted an ethnobotanical survey to collect data in the Sahelian and Saharian zones of Niger. We used permutation regression test to assess the influence of climatic conditions, fidelity of cultural practices implementation and the socio-economic level of producers on the date palm profitability. The Spearman rank correlation coefficients between the economic parameters and the geographical position of palm groves were also estimated based on the Spearman rank permutation test. A total of 60 producers were surveyed in ten villages of Sahelian and Saharian zones known as two main phoenicicultural areas in Niger. This analysis showed that date palm production varies quantitatively and qualitatively across agro-ecological zones. The study revealed also that ethnic groups influence the quantitative aspect of date palm production (P = 0.023), by socioeconomic parameters (P = 0.005) and by the index of fidelity to the cultural practice implementation (P = 0.035). The date palm production varies quantitatively (P = 0.001) and qualitatively (P = 0.033) according to the agro-climatic zones. The Spearman rank test shows a significant correlation between the quantitative and qualitative production, the geographical position of the palm groves and the depth of the water table. The profitability of the date palm seems not to be up to the phoenicicultural potential that can be the consequence of the poor implementation of the cultural practices, the socio-economic level of the producers and the environmental conditions.