More Irrigation and Pastoralism Could Transform Africa's Sahel Region

By Makhtar Diop, Vice President for Africa at the World Bank

The Sahel region, a vast arid stretch of land linking six countries in West Africa -- Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal -- is home to some of the most productive pastoralist communities in the world.And yet, assailed by a host of climatic, political and development challenges, their pastoralist way of life is under threat.

 

Here, over centuries, some 16 million pastoralists have perfected the art of survival in the Sahel, raising sheep and livestock in some of the most harsh and unforgiving environments anywhere on the planet. Meat yields fromthe Sahel rival those from some of the best ranches in Australia and the United States. Currently, half of the meat and two-thirds of the milk produced and consumed in the countries of West Africa originates in the Sahel.

 

However pastoralism is facing multiple threats. These include rapid population growth, conflict, volatile food prices, animal diseases, and shrinking grazing areas and water resources. Combined, these factors are steadily jeopardizing the survival of the pastoralists of the Sahel.

 

Climate change is expected to hit Africa hardest. It is increasingly likely that scientific warnings that the world could warm by 2°C in the next 20 or 30 years will come true. In such a case, pastoralism will be imperiled. The effects on the African continent will be dramatically more devastating under a warming scenario of 4°C.

 

Desert and aridity define the Sahel, yet its vast water resources are untapped. In a region where farming is the predominant economic activity, sadly, only 20 percent of the Sahel's irrigation potential has been developed. Worse still, one quarter of the area equipped with irrigation liesin a state of disrepair.

 

Pastoralism matters for Africa's future particularly in the Sahel. So does irrigation. Both affect farming, the dominant industry in the region,which accounts for one-third and more of all economic output in the Sahel. This in turn empowers the women of the Sahel, as women account for the majority of Africa's farmers.

 

Supporting pastoralism with more climate smart-policies; reducing vulnerability to drought, flooding and other disasters; and raising more healthy livestock through timely vaccines, are all necessary to help communities adapt to the ecological harshness of the Sahel.

 

Bringing more water to parched lands in the Sahel will not only improve food production but place more food on family dinner tables, allow farmers to move from subsistence farming into growing and selling greater quantities of food crops for higher earnings in local and regional markets. Climate-smart agriculture can increase yields, put more money in farmers' pockets and help protect biodiversity, improve soil fertility, and conserve the environment.

 

At a time when the global economy is slowly recovering, we want to prime the engines of growth that really matter.

 

The World Bank is hosting two major summits in Mauritania and Senegal focused on threats and opportunities for pastoralism and irrigation to thrive in Africa.

 

I am confident that in Nouakchott and Dakar, we will mobilize new coalitions of countries, development partners, business leaders, and the communities themselves for a new push to transform agriculture with more domestic, regional and international support for pastoralism and irrigation.

 

It can be done.

Adolescent Girls Struggle in Northern Mali

By Plan International 

Adolescent girls were extremely vulnerable during the 10-month occupation of Northern Mali by armed militias in 2012, but they have also been overlooked in the aftermath. Plan International has begun working with the victims of this conflict but, after speaking with many adolescent girls in Northern Mali, it is clear that more must be done.

Plan is calling for governments and humanitarian actors to recognize and address the specific needs of adolescents' girls before, during and after disasters.

For more go to http://plan-international.org

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UN General Assembly: 4 things you need to know

By the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Dozens of heads of state along with the UN Secretary-General, Government Ministers, leaders of UN agencies and civil society and other dignitaries are gathering in New York for the 68th Session of the United Nation’s General Assembly. The annual event – a series of meetings starting on 24 September and stretching over the better part of two weeks – will see Member States discuss and debate a range of political, economic and security-related issues.

 

Each year, OCHA and its partners take the opportunity to highlight key areas of humanitarian concern, and to advocate on behalf of people in crisis for solutions and support.

 

Here are four key humanitarian issues that OCHA will be focusing on during the 2013 General Assembly.

 

Each year during the UN General Assembly, OCHA and
its partners highlight key areas of humanitarian concern,
taking the opportunity to advocate on behalf of people in crisis
for solutions and support. Credit: UN

1. The humanitarian crisis in Syria must not be overshadowed by the political debate. The conflict in Syria and the use of chemical weapons are likely to continue to dominate discussions over the coming days. Our hope is that this does not detract attention from the country’s severe humanitarian crisis. Some 7 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian support, with more than 2 million having fled the country.

 

UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos has issued similar calls throughout the crisis (including in an opinion piece published at the beginning of September, at the re-launch of the Syria humanitarian appeal in June, and in a statement to the UN Security Coucil in April). On Tuesday 24 September, she will be taking part in a UK-organized High-Level Meeting on Syria.

 

“At the moment we are talking about the whole chemical weapons issue, it is important that that is addressed (and) it is important that we maintain the pressure to get a political solution,” said Ms Amos, in an interview that will be published later today. “But (the) humanitarian issues and the human rights abuses that are really spiralling out of control inside Syria – we need our political leaders to address those as well.”

 

2. We will urge Member States to do what they can to reverse the deteriorating situation in the Central African Republic (CAR). Every single person in CAR has been affected by their country’s descent into insecurity, violence and despair. Since December 2012, 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and a further 60,000 have left the country all together.

 

Persistent insecurity has severely hampered the ability of humanitarian organizations to reach those most in need. Earlier this month, two aid workers with the French NGO ACTED were killed north of the capital of Bangui.

 

On Wednesday 25 September, Ms. Amos and Kristalina Georgieva, the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, will chair a High-Level Event that will focus on the situation in CAR. Ms. Amos and Ms. Georgieva visited CAR earlier this year.

 

“We were both shocked by what we saw but felt that there was a very real opportunity (…) for the international community to really make a difference,” said Ms. Amos. “If they would just focus on the Central African Republic and think about the resources required – the support required to begin to build the institutions in the country – and to give much needed financial support to the many organizations operating on the ground.”

 

“So this meeting (will) I hope be an opportunity for that to happen.”

 

3. We will celebrate a new generation of African Humanitarian Champions. Later on Wednesday 25, OCHA will co-host an event with the African Union to celebrate African Humanitarian Champions. The event will highlight the rise of a new approach towards humanitarian intervention in Africa – an approach driven by African governments and civil society, that places increased emphasis on building resilience, rather than addressing needs in the short term.

 

The event will be an opportunity for African governments and private sector representatives to show how they are addressing humanitarian needs, and to convey the changing narrative about Africa’s response to humanitarian situations.

 

4. We will emphasize that building resilience should be at the heart of our support to the countries of the Sahel. People in the Sahel – a region that stretches across nine Saharan countries – are some of the most vulnerable people in the world today. They face food insecurity and malnutrition, health crises, natural disasters and, increasingly, insecurity and violence.

 

On Thursday 26 September the Secretary-General will convene a meeting on the Sahel, which is expected to endorse a new, integrated strategy for the region. One of the three ‘pillars’ of this new strategy is Resilience – the idea that humanitarian and developments efforts should focus on addressing the chronic and structural causes of vulnerability. This approach is already at the heart of much of the work of humanitarian agencies in the Sahel.

 

Ahead of the event, we will feature an interview with Robert Piper, the regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel.

 

For more go to www.unocha.org

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Resilience takes root in eastern Chad

By The United Nations Development Program - PNUD / Chad

Visiting Chad from 14 to 17 September, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Helen Clark, traveled to the Sahel region of Dar Sila, located in the east of the country, to witness the implementation of a new program of resilience.

 

UNDP and its partners, civil society and the Chadian government are working together there to reduce the vulnerability of communities in all of its dimensions in the village of Goz Beida.

 

In Chad, our new program of resilience empowers local communities to provide health, education and rule of law services

 

 The area is extremely fragile due to its exposure to natural disasters, land degradation and loss of productivity, compounded by climate change and large flows of displaced populations that have added pressure to the local environment and its ability to provide services.

 

Taking advantage of a period of relative peace and stability in Dar Sila, the new approach aims to heal wounds by bringing people together into the same development programme.

 

"The dividend of greater stability has to come in the form of meeting the aspirations of the people for education for their children, proper health care and an opportunity to have a proper livelihood," said Helen Clark in an interview with Radio Sila, a local station that advocates daily for peace and harmony.

 

The program is directly helping to stabilize communities, but also working with local authorities to help people build a better future by generating new sources of revenue and getting access to basic services.

 

In its conflict prevention component, the programme has mobilized local radios, caravans of peace and religious and traditional authorities that have sensitized 65,000 people on issues relating to human rights, violence against women and community conflicts.

 

About 150 mediators, including many women, have helped solve 42 inter-community conflicts using traditional techniques, sometimes covering up to 70 miles on donkeys to promote dialogue and prevent violence in all the surrounding villages.

 

Mobile legal clinics have also helped to promote access to justice by teaching 130,000 people about principles relating to land tenure, marital and community law.

 

Thanks to this relative stability, the programme will encourage local communities to develop, and grow nutritious food, while allowing them to generate new sources of income from it.

 

The initiative will give them access to energy through the installation of generators that are able to complete the most difficult tasks, such as husking grain. One thousand women are being trained in marketing local products and have already contributed a total of US $8000 to run their associations.

In parallel, the program has developed solar panels that will light up homes at night.

 

"This program is wonderful for our women. We re-started our lives from scratch. We have gained a lot of confidence," said the head of the women's groups.

 

The programme also supports the resilience of local and national institutions, increasing their capacity to provide health, education and rule of law services and expand social protection and economic opportunities.

 

The municipality of Goz Beida itself now has 21 elected officials, including two women, and its budget increased tenfold in two years, from US $16,000 to $160,000.

 

For more visit www.undp.org

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Mali: Conditions remain hard, the needs acute

Photo gallery by ICRC

Northern Mali has been the scene of armed violence for almost 16 months. Conditions remain hard, and the needs acute. To continue to help the hundreds of thousands of people suffering the effects of the conflict, the ICRC has launched an appeal for an additional CHF 40 million.

 

 

For more visit www.icrc.org

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