The African Development Bank and the Niger Basin Authority (ABN) organized a regional workshop to evaluate the mid-term results of the Integrated Program for Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Niger Basin (PIDACC/BN), in Niamey on 28 May 2024. The workshop was opened by Niger's Minister for Water, Sanitation and the Environment, Maizama Abdoulaye.
The program, which runs from 2019 to 2025, aims to strengthen the population's resilience to climate change in the nine Niger Basin countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Chad.
The workshop was an opportunity to examine the physical and financial progress of the national and regional components, the program's institutional arrangements and implementation approaches, and the application of procurement procedures. It was also a chance to assess progress and the time needed to adjust procurement procedures to speed up post-review activities.
A series of recommendations and strategic guidance emerged, particularly regarding activity costs and program length. The aim is to implement several activities, including those relating to community or multi-purpose infrastructure, and community-led development sub-projects.
The Integrated Programme for Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Niger Basin costs approximately USD 218.66 million. Of that amount, USD 77.55 million is being funded by the African Development Bank Group through the African Development Fund, USD 67.80 million is being financed by the Green Climate Fund, the European Union is providing EUR 14.60 million, the Global Environment Facility is funding USD 12.01 million and the Strategic Climate Fund is providing USD 9 million. Government counterpart funding from the nine countries in the Basin Authority and the beneficiaries amounts to USD 33.42 million. The German Development Agency, through the German Development Bank KFW, is providing matching funding of EUR 10 million for the Mali component and EUR 14 million for the Guinea component.
Program objectives
The main expected outcomes include the treatment and sustainable management of 450,000 hectares of degraded land to reduce the silting-up of the River Niger, and the construction and refurbishment of 230 hydraulic structures to move around 300 million cubic metres of water annually to increase annual agricultural production by 500,000 tons of cereals.
In addition, the program will support the implementation of 450 development sub-projects in the agricultural value chain and the creation of 184 small and medium-sized enterprises to benefit young people. It will also facilitate access to resilient technologies and practices for a million producers and livestock farmers.
Finally, it will help create 100,000 jobs for young people and implement a Regional Climate Change Adaptation Fund and an Environmental Services Payment Mechanism for the Niger Basin.
Mr Abdoulaye confirmed the commitment of the Basin's member state governments to promoting the integrated management of natural resources in the Niger Basin. He expressed his gratitude to financial partners for their support and assured them of the countries' commitment to implementing the recommendations from the review.
Didier Seyivé Zinsou, acting Executive Secretary of the NBA, commented that "the Basin Authority, in agreement with the member states, will do its utmost to raise the level of performance of this important program".
Garba Laouali, head of the Agricultural Research, Production and Sustainability Division at the African Development Bank, emphasized the program's perfect alignment with the Bank's ten-year strategy, especially its operational priorities "Feed Africa", "Integrate Africa" and "Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa".
"The mid-term review workshop provides a framework for consultation and evaluation of the results achieved after four years of implementing the programme, combined with strategic guidance for mid-term reviews for the country components," he added.
The European Union delegation representative in Niger, Magdalena Pruna, pointed out that the EU's financial support aimed to promote "an integrated vision of development to achieve the objectives of security and access to water, energy and food, taking environmental and climate issues into account".
Minister Maizama Abdoulaye and his colleague, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Farming, Mahamane Ousmane, werej joined at the opening of the workshop by officials from the Bank, the European Union and the German Development Agency, program coordinators, and representatives from the focal points of the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility in Niger, and from the national and regional program coordination units. Representatives from the KFW also participated in the workshop.
