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The savannah region in northern Togo borders on Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin (Figure 1). It covers 8,596 km2, which is 15% of the total area of Togo. The regional capital Dapaong has about 100,000 inhabitants. The savannah region consists of 5 prefectures, 70 cantons, 1,073 villages and 451 hamlets. The number of inhabitants is growing rapidly. The population figures were 828,224 in 2010 and 890,403 in 2013, a growth rate of 8.2% in only 3 years. With 105 inhabitants per km2 the savannah region is more densely populated than German Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (69 inhabitants per km2).
The savannah region is the poorest region in the country. In the villages, subsistence farming prevails. Surpluses are sold at village markets or nearby city markets with little profit, since raw products are rarely processed and certainly not processed and the purchasing power in the region is low. The sensitive savannah floors are overused. During the long dry season (October to May) there is a lack of artificial irrigation. The climate change affects the savannah region through shorter and irregular rainy seasons. Deforestation leads to further drying out of the soil. The population is increasing, becoming poorer and poorer and uses almost exclusively wood for cooking in the villages. This leads to further deterioration of the arable land. Harvest yields are falling because improved seeds and fertilisers are also lacking. The infrastructure in the region is at an extremely low level. There are no industrial enterprises in the savannah region. There is an almost complete lack of companies that process and refine agricultural products. There is a lack of storage facilities and cold chains for agricultural products. Only for wood and charcoal there are transport routes from the international highway to regions with better purchasing power. A major obstacle to the establishment of small businesses is the lack of electricity.