Project Goal: Contribute to improving the resilience of the people and ecosystems of the Niger River Basin through sustainable natural resource management.

General programme overview: The Niger River, whose basin is shared by nine (9) West and Central African States (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Chad), is of paramount importance for residents of the area and the economies of member countries of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA). The growing aridity and the dwindling of water flows observed over several decades, associated locally with land pressure, have highly contributed to the widespread degradation of natural resources, the worsening of water and wind erosion and the silting of the Niger River. These phenomena - amplified year after year by recurrent droughts - have undermined the people's living conditions and the biodiversity of the Basin. Between 2006 and 2011, the Bank financed the Niger Basin Silting Control Programme (NBSCP) in three countries of the Basin (Burkina, Mali and Niger), which carried out pilot operations and enabled the development of a Master Plan for controlling the silting of the Niger River. At the request of the countries, the Bank in 2012 initiated the preparation of the Programme for Integrated Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Niger Basin (PIDACC), the overall objective of which is to contribute to improving the resilience of the people and ecosystems of the Niger River Basin through sustainable natural resource management. The programme comprises 9 national projects implemented by the countries and a regional project carried out by the NBA to ensure synergy. It is structured around three components: (i) Building the resilience of ecosystems and natural resources; (ii) Building the people's resilience; and (iii) Ensuring programme coordination and management. The main expected outcomes are: (a) the recovery of 140 000 ha of degraded land; (b) the construction of 209 water infrastructure systems for agro-pastoral and fish farming activities; (c) the implementation of 450 sub-projects for agricultural chain development purposes and 184 youth SMEs; (d) climate change (CC) adaptation capacity building for 1 000 000 households; and (e) the operationalisation of a sustainable financing mechanism for sustainable natural resource management activities. The programme will cost USD 205.188 million and will be implemented over a six-year period (2019-2024). In the 9 countries, the programme will directly benefit 4 million people, 51% of whom are women. The direct beneficiaries also include smallholder farmers and vulnerable groups (women and young people) promoting the sub-projects.

Download the Appraisal report of PIDACC