The Keita Department is located in the centre of the Republic of Niger and covers an area of more than 4,860 km2 characterised by plateaux with rocky slopes and valleys forming a complex system of watersheds exposed to strong winds and water erosion.

Between 1960 and 1990, a decrease of yearly average rainfall was observed particularly during the month of August, with a latitude shift of 30 km from Northeast to Southwest.

The decade between the two last great dryness in 1973 and 1984 represents a line of demarcation between two different environmental and socio-economic systems.

A negative synergistic process, which seemed irrepressible, struck the ecosystem bringing it close to the break point: crop productions dropped down and herds were decimated.

The Keita valley has always represented a border for the Sahara desert, allowing the development of a multiethnic community composed by peasants coming from Southern regions and nomads from the North.