Challenges

A number of significant developments have emerged in the Sahel and create many challenges, which affect livelihoods. (i) Climate change is negatively affecting agricultural productivity. The degradation of the natural capital is accelerating due to the effects of recurrent droughts and extreme floods, the prevalence of high temperatures combined with the increasing pressure on natural resources (land, forests, and water); (ii) Conflicts and Insecurity: the majority of the Sahel countries have experienced severe insecurity and armed conflicts. This situation affects the rural transformation by limiting trade, including the sale of inputs and agricultural products, in particular cross-border transactions; (iii) COVID-19 affects agricultural productivity and production: non-availability of agricultural inputs, reduction of mobility because of restrictive measures, etc. Consequently, small producers, especially in least developed countries (LDCs), have exhausted their stocks (low price) and their income has fallen dramatically. Food security for the poorest social strata is further deteriorating, due to the rising prices of basic food.  

Toward a Solution

The UN Rome-Based Agencies Joint Programme for the Sahel in Response to the Challenges of COVID-19, Conflict and Climate Change (SD3C) aims to consolidate the livelihoods of small producers, in particular women and young people living in cross-border areas of the six targeted LDCs countries: Burkina Faso, Chad; Mali, Mauritania; Niger, and Senegal. With an expected contribution to poverty reduction of around 10 per cent in its intervention area, the programme aims to revitalize socio-economic and commercial spaces plagued by insecurity and climate variability and impacts that weaken the resilience of small producers. It will contribute to SDGs targets 1.5, to build resilience to environmental, economic, and social disaster; 2.4, to sustainable food production and resilient agricultural practices; 2.b, to prevent agricultural trade restrictions, markets distortions, and export subsidies; 3.1, to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related disasters and 13.3, to build knowledge and ability to meet climate change. The SD3C is also aligned with IPoA priority area 2, on agriculture, food security and rural development.  

The methodological approach creates synergy at the regional level between the five Sahel countries and Senegal under the leadership of the G5 Secretariat with the technical assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), the financing of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which defines and implements actions following a participatory approach. Thus, the programme structure responds to a double logic:  

• a horizontal logic of regional scope and impact, guaranteeing alignment and consistency in the implementation at the country level. It is based on designing, sharing, and ownership of approaches, methods of joint actions, and on the performance of regional strategies of the G5 Sahel, under the coordination of its executive secretariat, ensuring the regional contracting authority;  
• a vertical logic, which concretizes in each country the objective of the programme by articulating national investment priorities with regional orientations of the G5 Sahel in connection with resilience and economic development in cross-border areas, in a context of climate change, insecurity, and sanitary crisis. 

The programme intends to scale up good practices in resilience and adaptation to climate change in the participating countries, building mainly on the experiences developed by FAO, IFAD, and WFP, with their local partners contributing to SDGs 1, 2, and 13. At the regional level, the programme intends to broaden knowledge management, capitalization, and the development of methodological tools in IFAD’s portfolios. The initiative will adopt an innovative approach in terms of cross-border economic integration focused on promoting business opportunities in the corridors and dialogue with the ECOWAS authorities involving agro-pastoralists. This initiative is replicable to the following extent:  

(i) a clear willingness of governments of countries facing the same challenges and that also have common characteristics;  

(ii) the existence of technical and financial partners willing to accompany these governments in the design, funding, and implementation of this initiative. The project has just been launched, and activities are in the process of starting. Impacts and lessons learned will be documented and shared soon. Still, the main highlight is the innovative new approach of IFAD intervention in partnership with a regional organization to implement a joint initiative with FAO and WFP covering six countries. In addition, FAO and WFP will use their experience in community development approaches for:  

• Soil reclamation/protection and water conservation through the “cash-for-assets (CFA)” approach.  
• Promotion and dissemination of improved and resilient practices, socio-economic inclusion initiatives, and strengthening of rural organizations and institutions. 
• Strengthening cross-border markets and securing border transactions.  
• The “Cash+” approach aimed to provide two complementary interventions, cash transfers and production assistance, to create synergies, thereby increasing their respective impacts. 

The “Resilience Funds” approach, aimed at linking technical, social, and financial interventions, respectively, through agro-pastoral field schools, women’s listening clubs, and village savings and credit associations.