With the Adaptation Fund support and in collaboration with its regional executing partners, the MBA and GWP-WA, the Sahara and Sahel Observatory conducted the second leg of the consultation process with the Benin stakeholders as part of the BOUCLIER-CLIMAT/MONO project development, on March 23-24, 2023. This meeting gave the opportunity to national stakeholders and local communities of Kpatchacodji, Athiémé and Dévé to discuss the major issues related to climate change in their region and the recurring episodes of destructive floods they cause.
These phenomena are increasingly repetitive and intense and are combined with the degradation of the river banks and the movement of the riverbeds, the loss of agricultural land, the degradation of forests and wetlands, the disappearance of lake and river ecosystems and the decline of water levels in certain parts of the river. They have also caused the loss of income-generating activities following the installation of crossing infrastructures (the Athiémé bridge is an example) which have been qualified as major concerns.
As in Togo, these meetings enabled local stakeholders to better understand the BOUCLIER-CLIMAT/MONO project objectives and activities to be implemented. The populations welcomed the initiative that is expected to help them overcome these challenges and better adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. It turned out that the expectations of the communities are in line with the project activities, such as the establishment of an early warning system in the Mono basin, the sustainable management of water resources, the development and restoration of degraded lands, forests and waterways, the updating of wetland development plans, the development and promotion of income-generating activities, as well as awareness-raising and capacity-building activities.
The last step of this consultation process and the restitution and sharing of the field missions’ outcomes will be the regional workshop that will bring together all project stakeholders from both countries (Togo, Benin) on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. The main recommendations of this workshop will be included in the project final document.