SAWAP Conference & BRICKS Launch Sahel and West Africa Program in Support of the Great Green Wall Initiative

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1 & SAWAP Conference & BRICKS Launch Sahel and West Africa Program in Support of the Great Green Wall Initiative Building Resilience through Innovation, Communication and Knowledge Services Project March 19-22, 2014 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso SAWAP is a 1.1 billion US$ investment program on sustainable land and water management. Summary of deliberations BRICKS supports SAWAP by providing operational services to country projects to help identify regional and global innovations, promote them through better communication, and put that knowledge into use The Conference of the Sahel and West Africa Program (SAWAP) and the BRICKS (Building Resilience through Innovation, Communication and Knowledge Services) Project launch, was held in Ouagadougou from March 19 to March 22, This event was organized by the carrier of the regional project, BRICKS, project BRICKS (CILSS), its implementing partners (OSS and IUCN) and financial partners (World SAWAP country investment operations, and Bank, GEF). BRICKS implementing organizations - CILSS, IUCN and OSS - promoting The objective of sustainable the meeting was to land consolidate use practices and build the SAWAP for a resilient community for and a good stable start Sahel and effective and implementation West Africa. of the BRICKS Project. The participants were made up of the SAWAP projects focal points (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Chad, Togo), representatives of the World Bank, IUCN, CILSS and OSS (Global Mechanism, African Conference Union, European Objectives Union, FAO, GEF, ICRAF, WRI, SOS Sahel international). 1. Official BRICKS launch 2. Deployment Opening ceremony of BRICKS services to the SAWAP community. 3. Building of communities of practice on innovation, communication and knowledge The opening services ceremony, across which was the chaired SAWAP by Mr. portfolio. Saga Pascal Ilboudo, Permanent Secretary to the Coordination of Agricultural Sector Policies, representing the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Burkina Faso, was marked by three addresses: Contacts Edwige Botoni, Welcoming CILSS: remarks edwige.botoni@cilss.bf by CILSS Executive Secretary Philippe Zoungrana, CILSS: philippe.zoungrana@cilss.bf Dr. Djimé ADOUM thanked the Government and the people of Burkina Faso for the warm welcome granted to the participants in the SAWAP Conference and the BRICKS Project Launch. He also thanked the technical and financial partners for their various supports and especially the World Bank and GEF for funding the BRICKS and SAWAP projects. Dr. ADOUM pinpointed the consequences of climate disturbance which affected the ecosystems and the populations food security. He noted that, for more than 40 years, CILSS has been striving to reinforce the resilience of the Sahel populations, including policy support, funding of micro-projects for adaptation, environment education, monitoring of vulnerability in the Sahel to help with decision-making. Concluding his address, he hailed the approach chosen by the World Bank in assigning subregional institutions with the responsibility to support countries for the implementation of the SAWAP program. The World Bank Resident Representative in Burkina Faso, Mrs. Mercy TEMBON, underscored that the SAWAP Program will help develop Sustainable Land and Water Resource Management (SLWRM) in the 12 countries of the Great Green Wall (GGW). This program targets three objectives which are: (i) enhancement of SLM and SWM technologies, (ii) improvement of land development, and (iii) improvement of information systems. The BRICKS Project, which is implemented by CILSS, IUCN and OSS, aims at consolidating the SAWAP Program and will facilitate the identification of innovations at the regional and global level, their promotion through communication, knowledge management and effective monitoring and evaluation. Finally, Mrs. TEMBON reassured about the availability of the World Bank to support the SAWAP Program and the BRICKS Project through its relevant supporting missions. Opening address by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security of Burkina Faso On behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Saga Pascal ILBOUDO thanked all the technical and financial partners for the contribution towards sustainable food and nutritional 1

2 security in the sub-region; in a special way, he expressed his gratitude to the World Bank and to the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) for funding the SAWAP Program and the BRICKS Project. According to Mr. SAGA, this financial assistance will help fight effectively and sustainably the underlying and structural causes of food and nutritional crises and poverty in order to reinforce the resilience of the vulnerable populations of the concerned countries. He finally insisted on the perfect coherence between the SAWAP and BRICKS Programs and the Global Alliance for Resilience Initiative-Sahel and West Africa, launched on December 6, 2012, and on that occasion recalled its key objectives. Deliberations Before the plenary session started, the following presidium members were appointed: - Chairman: Mr. Dampha Almami, African Union - Vice-Chairmen: Mr. Stephen Danyo, World Bank Mr. Doulkom Adama, Ministry of Environment of Burkina Faso Introductory presentations In view to refresh the participants memories concerning the subject, three general presentations were made: 1 Brief overview of the SAWAP Program, by Mr. Stephen Danyo, World Bank. 2 - GEF5 Program and BRICKS role in improving Sustainable Land Management, pursuant to UNCCD agenda, Mr. Jean-Marc Sinnassamy, GEFSec 3 Common presentations by the three implementing agencies, on: BRICKS, by Mr. Philippe Zoungrana ; OSS, by Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra ; IUCN, by Mr. Jean-Marc Garreau ; CILSS, by Mrs. Edwige Botoni. At the end of the presentations, fruitful discussions enabled the participants to improve their understanding of the BRICKS Project and the role of the various implementing agencies. Indeed, the BRICKS Project supports 12 country projects and offers operational services to contribute identify and promote innovations through better communication, linking of knowledge with investment to reinforce resilience. This project will be implemented by IUCN, OSS and CILSS. These three institutions are highly experienced and qualified to effectively implement the project. CILSS, which shall ensure regional coordination of the project, shall also be in charge of managing and disseminating knowledge; OSS is in charge of geospatial applications and monitoring and evaluation of the projects portfolio; IUCN is leading the fields of biodiversity and networking and communication strategies. Group works The participants were divided into two thematic groups to discuss the SAWAP projects and express their expectations in respect of the BRICKS Project. Needs were identified and grouped according to the following areas: Communication, knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation and GIS, NRM and biodiversity tools and approaches. These expectations were refined during country group works. During the last session, country support needs were planned according to the level of progress of their SAWAP project. Broadly, the following needs were identified: Needs in communication Creating a website for the SAWAP community for exchange of information, in view to help the activities of the project have visibility; Creating a network to develop a synergy of innovating approaches on SLM ; Developing communication tools to help disseminate broadly good practices ; 2

3 Promoting exchanges of information on the status of natural resources and good practices on SLM, including land legislation; Promoting special advertising features and documentary mounting on relevant activities to promote in the 12 SAWAP countries; Capitalizing good practices and experiences of SAWAP projects ; Building capacity for the communication officers of the various SAWAP projects ; Designing, producing adapted communication tools for (inter alia) the grassroots communities ; Harmonizing common communication strategy (ascending). Needs in knowledge management Identifying, capitalizing good practices and innovations ; Conducting environmental analyses in Sustainable Land and Water Resources Management (SLWRM) ; Promoting good governance in Sustainable Land Management (SLM) ; Training in evaluation on carbon sequestration ; Building capacity through study and exchange trips ; Creating National Observatories ; Building capacity on various themes (Geographical Information System, agro-forestry, rangeland, protected areas and landscape management, carbon market and climate, environment assessment tools, monitoring, etc.). Needs in Monitoring and Evaluation and Geographical Information Systems Developing a reference status based on natural resource cartography and modeling ; Supporting monitoring and evaluation in sustainable land and water resource management; Creating updated databases of natural resources (forests, soils, waters,...) and bushfires; Supporting development and use of national database in order to better capture landscape management opportunities. Needs in natural resource and biodiversity management tools and approaches Monitoring ecosystem dynamics; Harmonizing monitoring and evaluation tools ; Monitoring GEF indicators ; Training on red list development for ecosystems and species ; Determining the economic value of ecosystems ; Developing landscape and agro-forestry approaches. Deliberations of project key issues (operational clinics) Sessions on the following themes were conducted simultaneously: Financial Management and Reporting, by Mr. Bougma, World Bank; Procurement Issues, by Mr. Nagalo, CILSS ; Monitoring and Evaluation, by Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra, OSS ; Communication, by Mrs. Grazia Atanasio, World Bank. These sessions made it possible to get a better understanding of the key issues for a good management of the BRICKS Project. 3

4 Communication on scientific themes (TED Talks) In view to create behavioral change, scientific experts led some sessions on relevant topics in order to provide elements to better support countries in their needs. The following topics were addressed: Livestock and Rangeland Management, by Mr. Jonathan Davies, IUCN ; Sustainable Forest Management, by Mr. Sibiri Jean Ouédraogo, CILSS (INSAH) ; Climate Change and Adaptation, by Mr. Maguette Kaire, CILSS (AGRHYMET) ; Land Management and Water Harvesting, by Mr. Ablassé Bilgo, CILSS (AGRHYMET) ; Sustainable Landscape Management, by Mr. Patrick Wylie, IUCN ; Innovative Communication Tools, by Mr. Max Thabiso Edkins, World Bank (Connect4climate) ; Community Planning linked to Watershed Management, by Mr. Daniel Yawson, IUCN ; Communication for Conservation and Climate Change, by Mrs. Juliane Zeidler, IUCN ; Mobile Pastoralism, by Mr. Jonathan Davies, IUCN. Learning workshops Facilitated by specialists, learning workshops which were organized simultaneously focused on the knowledge of the following tools: Environmental Monitoring, by Mr. Alfari Issifou, CILSS (AGRHYMET) ; Geographical Information System (GIS), by Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra, OSS ; Communication, illustrated by the experiences (i) of the World Bank, by Grazia Atanasio, (ii) of OSS (Mrs. Jaoui Khaoula), and (iii) of CILSS by Mr. Bilgo Ablassé. Through these presentations, the institutions shared their experiences in these various areas for a better implementation of the SAWAP and BRICKS projects. The Advisory Committee The members of BRICKS Advisory Committee met to discuss its composition, leadership, schedule of meetings, missions and role of its Secretariat. Exhibition (Market Place) During the Conference, the various institutions and their technical and financial partners exhibited their products, tools and services through exhibition stands. BRICKS Project Work plan The work plan for the forthcoming 16 months was presented and discussed during a plenary session. This activity led to a better understanding of the roles of the 3 implementing agencies, the operational links and processes between BRICKS projects and those of SAWAP countries. Recommendations After identifying the needs of the SAWAP countries, the following recommendations were devised: Need to develop bilateral exchanges (country-implementing agencies) in order to better identify the offers and demands to target the similarities in country needs and the support capacities of the implementing agencies (CILSS, OSS and IUCN) ; Need for a prior consultation between the three implementing agencies on the action plan which should take into account country needs ; 4

5 Translate BRICKS Project action plan into French and disseminate it to SAWAP country project coordinators to enable them provide their contributions and readjust their action plan which is in progress ; Concerned by the need for complementarity and synergy in implementing the Great Green Wall (GGW), develop the knowledge management platform in collaboration with the technical and financial partners involved in the implementation of the Great Green Wall ; Value/reinforce expertise in countries when implementing BRICKS project tools. Field visit The participants will go on a field visit to Ouahigouya, Yatenga Province, Burkina Faso, to visit Mr. Yacouba Sawadogo, the man who stopped the desert. Prior to this visit, the video on the experience of the man was projected during a plenary session. The participants in the SAWAP Conference and in the BRICKS Project launch workshop thank the Government of Burkina Faso and the Burkinabe people for their heartfelt welcome. Done in Ouagadougou, on March 21, 2014 The Participants 5