Answer:
Both are influenced greatly by the desert.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mali and Niger are both countries that fall into the category of low-developed countries. The vast majority of the people live in poverty and barely manage to make ends day by day. This is due to many reasons, such as political, conflicts, terrorism, terrible healthcare, and terrible infrastructure.
Another big reason for the economic difficulties of these two countries is the climate and the landscape they have. Both Mali and Niger are dominated by deserts and steppes, thus arid and semi-arid areas. For countries, at a low level of development, this is devastating because they can not engage in agriculture on a large scale, but only locally and on a small scale. This results in shortage of food, but also no agricultural products for trade.