In West Africa, fodder trees and shrubs play an important role in the socio-economic life of populations. The aim of this study is to summarize the literature on the use of these species worldwide, in Africa and in Niger. The methodological approach used in this study is documentary research via the Internet. The results show that articles (67%) are the most frequently consulted documents. Of this wealth of documentation, the subjects most dealt with were the inventory and distribution of fodder trees and shrubs (13%), followed by studies on animal husbandry systems (10.2%), the feed value of woody fodder (10.2%) and agrostological studies (9.90%). It has been shown that trees and shrubs play a major role in feeding, especially in the Sahel, where they help to alleviate the fodder deficit during long dry seasons and periods of drought. The 100 species concerned are mainly Fabaceae, Capparidaceae, Combretaceae, Malvaceae, Rubiaceae and Rhamnaceae.