The flow of the Yongding is irregular; in the rainy season it rises rapidly, carrying with it large quantities of silt, which raise the level of the riverbed considerably.
In the dry interior zone, which occupies most of the land area and virtually the entire northwestern half of the state, the rainy season is irregular, and the annual rainfall never exceeds 24 inches (610 mm).
In the course of the same rainy season a most irregular spatial pattern of rainfall may occur, while from one year to another the total amount of rainfall may also vary; in addition, the rainy season itself may arrive early or late, thus jeopardizing crops.
The same irregular pattern is observed when the rainy days (percentage, in a year, of days with total precipitation over 1 mm) are taken into account.
The study areas are dry, rocky, sandy reddish brown soils and drought prone, with low irregular rainfall (600-800 mm) during 60 to 72 rainy days per annum.
Savings is an important tool because it can help the poor deal with the ups and downs of irregular earnings, and help them build reserves for a rainy day.
A rainfall deficit last year — the short rainy season ended early, and rains were rare and irregular — left the land without the surface ponds that many of Niger's 17 million people, most subsistence farmers, depend on.
In Katine, the two rainy seasons each year have been disrupted, with rainfall now irregular.
