Fachi

Kaouar Valley, Bilma area, Niger

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Fachi, in the Kaouar Valley near Bilma in eastern Niger, serves as a remote desert oasis nestled amid the Ténéré sands and Erg of Bilma dunes, on the edge of the Agram escarpment.

This small settlement, home to around 2,200 people mostly of Kanuri descent, relies on limited water sources for date palms and produces salt traded via historic Azalai camel caravans from Agadez, though its salt quality is considered lower than Bilma's. 

Bilma, larger with about 4,000 residents, acts as the regional hub under Kaouar Cliffs, famed for expansive natron and salt evaporation pans that support livestock trade across West Africa, alongside vegetable gardens and growing tourism from the Aïr Mountains. 

The Kaouar Valley itself spans roughly 75 kilometers of interconnected oases, sustaining these communities through scarce provisions in one of the Sahara's most isolated hyper-arid zones, where extreme heat exceeds 40°C routinely and fortifications from banco salt blocks hint at past raids by nomads.