Hunkered in the 10 percent of vast, sand-blown Niger that is marginally arable, Amassagal's story is one of constant battle with the coming desert. The village was settled by nomadic Bella people about 80 years ago, after a brutal drought burned up millions of acres of grazing lands, killing thousands of people, camels and cattle. In a tale repeated endlessly all over the scorched Sahel, men and women no older than 40 lament the drying of their world. Grasses were once waist high, they say. Trees once threw broken shade for the entire 3-mile walk to a main road. Back in the era of gazelles and wild pigs, children knew what meat was. Farmer Zakara's ancient mother, Bibata Mahaman, hunched outside her hut, bolstering her spirits with stories of the famines she has outlived: Kourou kaforoun, or "pull and throw away," because there were so many dead that the weak survivors could only toss the bodies in the bush. Tamaba nyeze, or "a franc is better than a parent," because children were abandoned when families roamed the towns and deserts to beg or work. Kanta kalage, or "let it grow back" because the starving were admonished to wait before eating the last tree leaves. Sitting in the sparse shade of an acacia, Zakara nodded, smiling at the memories. He is a quiet man, as farmers often are.

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