The International Fund for Agricultural Development is joining with the other Rome-based United Nations agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the World Food Programme – as well as the G5 Sahel and the Green Climate Fund to revitalise economic activities and food systems in the Group of Five Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger) and in Senegal.
These efforts will strengthen the resilience of rural communities impacted by conflict, climate change, and the current COVID-19 pandemic.
IFAD’s executive board approved a highly concessional loan of $29.7m and a grant of $13.7m to implement the first-ever Joint RBA Programme for the Sahel in Response to the Challenges of COVID-19, Conflict and Climate Change.
SD3C will benefit 123,000 rural households in cross-border areas of the six countries, reaching almost one million individuals. Women, who typically have limited access to land and finance, will make up 50 per cent of the project’s participants. About 40 per cent will be young people, who face high rates of unemployment. Landless people and transhumant pastoralists also stand to gain from the project’s activities.
With the exception of Senegal, the countries included in SD3C are undergoing conflict, particularly in border areas, which increases fragility.
“If we want peace and development in the Sahel region, we must invest in agriculture and in social capital. In particular, we must create jobs for youth,” said IFAD Representative and Country Director for Senegal, Benoît Thierry.
“The failure of national economies to create conditions for decent incomes for rural young people poses a threat to political stability, nurtures extremism, and promotes migration.”
The programme will enhance business partnerships between farmers and pastoralists through training initiatives and by strengthening cross-border markets for agricultural inputs and produce.
The three RBA’s experience in the Sahel indicates that the SD3C programme activities can be implemented quickly. A synergistic approach is being put forward by FAO, IFAD, and WFP member states to promote greater collaboration to support the Sustainable Development Goals.
The total cost of the programme over its six-year implementation period will be $180.4m. IFAD-financed activities will be implemented in two phases of three years each, with an estimated total cost in phase 1 of $55.7m and in phase 2 of $53.3m.
