TOPSHOT-NIGER-ECONOMY-CULTURE-SOCIAL

TOPSHOT - A truck carrying food for humanms and animals crossing the Sahara desert are seen in the area of Djado in Niger, towards the Libyan border, on May 22, 2023. At the edge of an oasis swallowed by the dunes where rare caravans still pass, the desert is dotted with holes. The salt pans of Kalala, located near Bilma in northeastern Niger, were once an essential stop on caravan routes. Long before uranium and the gold rushes, salt was for a long time the main wealth extracted from the subsoil of the Niger Sahara. A once thriving business, which seeks to survive in a disrupted regional economy. (Photo by Souleymane AG ANARA / AFP) (Photo by SOULEYMANE AG ANARA/AFP via Getty Images)