Bouza Department
Encyclopedia
Bouza is a department
of the Tahoua Region in Niger
. Its capital lies at the city of Bouza
, and also includes the town of Déoulé
.
speaking area, which has become in the last century an area of marginal agriculture. There are also populations of Fula
and Tuareg peoples who traditionally engage in nomadic and semi-nomadic animal husbandry: the Fula Woadabe with cattle and the Turaeg largely with camel. The major highway of the region, completed in the 1970s, bypassed Bouza to the west, heading south from Regional capitol Tahoua
to the large southern city of Birni-N'Konni
near the Nigerian border. The major (unpaved) road in the area -- RN16 runs through Bouza town from Madaoua
to the south to Keita
in the north, before reaching Tahoua in the northwest of the Region.
Soil degradation, desertification, and poverty have meant that much of the young male population are involved in seasonal work outside the area, either in the south, Niamey, in other areas of West or North Africa. One side effect of this has left areas of Bouza Department vulnerable to HIV transmission. International Red Cross and Care International studies refer to one area of the department as the "Valley of the Widows", so high is the rate of young male mortality from HIV - AIDS. Because of the poverty of the area, Bouza region was especially hard hit in the 2005 Niger food crisis, and has been reported as a center of ongoing Cholera
and childhood malnutrition.
Departments of Niger
||The Regions of Niger are subdivided into 63 Departments . Before the devolution program on 1999-2005, these Departments were styled arrondissements. Confusingly, the next level up had, before 2002-2005 been styled Departments. Prior to a revision in 2011, there had been 36 Departments. A draft...
of the Tahoua Region in Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
. Its capital lies at the city of Bouza
Bouza
Bouza is a town in southwestern Niger. A town of eight thousand, it is the administrative center of Bouza Department, part of Tahoua Region.-Culture and situation:...
, and also includes the town of Déoulé
Deoule
-References:...
.
Culture and situation
Bouza Department is in a largely HausaHausa language
Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first language by about 25 million people, and as a second language by about 18 million more, an approximate total of 43 million people...
speaking area, which has become in the last century an area of marginal agriculture. There are also populations of Fula
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
and Tuareg peoples who traditionally engage in nomadic and semi-nomadic animal husbandry: the Fula Woadabe with cattle and the Turaeg largely with camel. The major highway of the region, completed in the 1970s, bypassed Bouza to the west, heading south from Regional capitol Tahoua
Tahoua
Tahoua is a city in Niger and the administrative center of the Department of Tahoua and the larger Tahoua Region. It has a population of 99,900 . The city is primarily a market town for the surrounding agricultural area, and a meeting place for the Tuareg people from the north and the Fulani people...
to the large southern city of Birni-N'Konni
Birni-N'Konni
Birni-N'Konni is a town in Niger, lying on the border of Nigeria and the Kori River. It is an important market town and transport hub and the 2001 census had a population of 44,663. The town is the historic center of the small pre-colonial Hausa state of Konni...
near the Nigerian border. The major (unpaved) road in the area -- RN16 runs through Bouza town from Madaoua
Madaoua
Madaoua is a town located in the Tahoua Region of Niger. It has a population of 22,175 . It is seat of the Madaoua Department, forming the southwest corner of the Region, and is an Urban Commune.-References:...
to the south to Keita
Keïta
Keïta or Keita may refer to:Geography* Keita Department, a region of Niger* Keita, Niger, a town in Keita departmentHistory* Keita Dynasty, a ruling lineage of MaliPolitics...
in the north, before reaching Tahoua in the northwest of the Region.
Soil degradation, desertification, and poverty have meant that much of the young male population are involved in seasonal work outside the area, either in the south, Niamey, in other areas of West or North Africa. One side effect of this has left areas of Bouza Department vulnerable to HIV transmission. International Red Cross and Care International studies refer to one area of the department as the "Valley of the Widows", so high is the rate of young male mortality from HIV - AIDS. Because of the poverty of the area, Bouza region was especially hard hit in the 2005 Niger food crisis, and has been reported as a center of ongoing Cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
and childhood malnutrition.