BRICKS

The World Bank supported the Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) in sub-Saharan Africa through the Sahel and West Africa Program (SAWAP) funded by GEF, which is an investment general framework approved in 2011 and including 12 investment projects implemented by 12 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Chad and Togo). The implementation of the GGWI required a robust regional platform for the exchange of best practices and successful experiences and for the development of monitoring and evaluation tools in support of the initiative through regional and local institutions.

The BRICKS project was designed to meet this need. Its activities are structured around three components implemented by three regional institutions. They are: 

• Component 1 - Regional coordination, management and dissemination of good practices (CILSS)
• Component 2 - Monitoring-evaluation of the project portfolio and development of geospatial services (OSS)
• Component 3 - Biodiversity and communication strategies (IUCN)

The project had a six-year term (2014-2019) and a budget of $ 1, $ 799.500 was allocated to the OSS for the implementation of the activities of component 2.

Activities carried out :
Two main results from component 2 were achieved: 

• Development of new monitoring tools and deployment of capacity building activities at regional and national levels to ensure the follow up of procedures and project portfolio impacts.
• Regularly monitoring the SAWAP portfolio compared to a series of thematic and process indicators. 

OSS has set up a team to ensure the coordination and implementation of activities. As such, since the launch in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in March 2014 and based on annual work plans developed by the three institutions (CILSS, OSS and IUCN), OSS has developed a set of tools and methodologies to achieve the expected results.

Establishment of a monitoring and evaluation system for the SAWAP portfolio
Given the diversity of the objectives of the investment projects to be completed in 12 countries, the conceptual approach of the Monitoring and Evaluation System (M&E) has required the development of harmonized tools for M&E to enable each country to collect comparable data to be consolidated in the form of regional achievements. As such, the monitoring of the SAWAP portfolio has required the following preliminary activities.

• The completion of a documentary study on Monitoring&Evaluation 

As part of the implementation of the monitoring & evaluation system at the regional level to assess the performance of the SAWAP portfolio, OSS commissioned a documentary study and a selective analysis on existing monitoring & evaluation systems in the SAWAP area. This study also examined the nature of methods which would best suit the implementation of such a system. The study was finalized and approved by partners.

• The development of a monitoring&evaluation guide for the SAWAP portfolio’s performance

An indicators’ monitoring&evaluation guide was developed by the working group on «Monitoring&Evaluation» for the BRICKS project under the coordination of OSS. This guide describes and formalizes the procedures and tools to harmonize the organization and methodologies for the collection and dissemination of information on the program’s progress. It establishes and specifies the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders in terms of production and use of data and information.

• Geospatial activities in support of the monitoring&evaluation of the SAWAP portfolio and national projects

The geospatial activities which were carried out focused on information and earth observation technology and GIS which play a major role in the monitoring&evaluation of development projects.

Establishment of a spatial database
Based on existing systems at OSS, a status report on existing resources in terms of land observation and geographic/mapping data at the sub-regional and national levels has been developed. It was a precursor to the establishment of a useful spatial database for geospatial processing linked to the BRICKS project and its action area. A document on the inventory and the status report of spatial data has been developed in September 2015 by the experts recruited for the project.

Development and launch of the SAWAP/BRICKS Geoportal
Dedicated to the publishing, recording and exchange of resources and spatial data, a Geoportal was developed and put online in October 2015. Based on international norms and standards, it provides access to basic data on land use, climate, agronomy/agriculture, vegetation and soil indices, hydrology, administration, etc. It ensures an infrastructure function for the on-line publication and dissemination of data on natural resources. It is accessible via the OSS website (www.oss-online.org/fr/bricks) and that of SAWAP (sawap.net/).

Development of GIS products to the benefit of national SAWAP projects
In order to support countries in terms of geographic tools, OSS has developed GIS products dedicated to each national project.  These GIS are fed with spatial data on natural resources including land and water resources, and cover topics linked to administration, hydrology, field digital models, agriculture, climate, ecology, soil science, occupation and land use and socio-economic issues. Developed from reference software including QGIS, GIS countries are accompanied by explanatory notes and user guides.