Artisans of the Union of Peasants for Self Development (UPAP) make traditional Tuareg leather handicrafts and silver jewelry. The Tuareg, nomadic Saharan herders, now also work as traders or cultivate crops in fertile oases. In 1993, young craftspeople in Niger organized to create handicrafts, traveling through France and selling from backpacks. They organized formally as UPAP in 1999. Tuareg artisans of UPAP use handicraft income to supplement subsistence farming and other livelihoods.