In this picture taken Sunday July 22, 2012, Tuareg men negotiate the sale of camels at the livestock market in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger, 220 kms (140 miles) north of Maradi. Eighty percent of Niger's people and 100 percent of the landlocked nation's rural population depend on livestock, including camel, cows, sheep and goats, for some part of their income. For generations, nomads have lived in a precarious equilibrium with the sky above them. When the first rains come, they head north toward the Sahara desert, where the grass is said to be saltier, packed with minerals. They time their movements according to the clouds, waiting for the second major downpour, before making a U-turn to head back to the greener south. If they miscalculate, they can end up stranded. As the grass turns yellow, their animals become too weak to walk.

Jerome Delay / AP Photo