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Women in Niger have the highest fertility rate in sub-Saharan Africa, a fact that contributes to the poverty and political disruption of the region. But aggregate national figures tell us very little about how individuals experience fertility. This paper contextualizes recent demographic studies in the light of historical and anthropological work on the Sahel more broadly, arguing that, for many in Niger and elsewhere in the Sahel, their experience of demographic crisis is not one of over- but of under-fertility. Policy makers and international donors may find that placing more emphasis on meeting the perceived needs of women and men in the region is more productive that further inflaming a sense of embattlement among populations that sometimes interpret “family planning” as a genocidal intrusion into their reproductive lives.