Regional Initiative for the Sahel
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INVESTMENT PRESENTATION
THE PROPOSAL
The Sahel is a region with significant environmental, political, and social challenges. It is also endowed with abundant natural and human resources, offering tremendous potential for sustainable growth. The Hand-in-Hand Initiative facilitates partnerships and investments to accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems in the region.
Based on lessons learned, three pillars for action have been identified:
1. Ensuring sustainable land and water management and governance
2. Transformation of agri-food production, postproduction systems and trade
3. Strengthening technical and institutional capacities for resilience building and transformational leadership.
The UN's Integrated Strategy for the Sahel, with governance, resilience, and security as its pillars, is a key programmatic entry point for the Hand-in-Hand Initiative's engagement in the region. Additionally, the investment plans for Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), developed with FAO's support, facilitate the Hand-in-Hand Initiative's engagement in the Sahel. Finally, the SD3C, a joint programme for the Sahel in response to Covid-19, conflict, and climate change, also support the HIH Initiative's work in the region.
The core elements of the HIH Initiative in the Sahel is to complement and capitalize ongoing efforts of national governments, regional bodies, and development partners. It amplifies the existing efforts to direct resources on where they can have maximum impact.
The Sahel Alliance Projects and the HIH Initiative
Currently the Initiative's task force team is working with ten countries in the region: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, the Gambia, Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Nigeria. Investment priorities have been identified in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, and Niger.
The Initiative targets regions with high rates of poverty and untapped potential for commercially oriented value chain development, including processing and storage facilities, and e-commerce and digital services in agrifood systems.
Interventions Supported by the HIH Countries
Burkina Faso
• Approach: PNIASP (or National Strategic Plan for Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral Investments)
• Target regions: Centre-Est, Centre-Ouest, Est, Sud-Ouest
• Value chains: Rice, peanut, sesame, NTFP, cattle farming
Guinea
• Approach: Twin-track approach of national strategy for value-chain development and diversification of food systems
• Targeted regions: Gabu, Oio, Biombo
• Value chains: maize, rice, small ruminants, and pigs.
Mali
• Approach: Establishment of two pilot agricultural growth zones
• Target regions: Koulikoro, Kayes
• Value chains: Tomato, onion, cattle
Niger
• Approach: Agriculture value chain development and Digital Villages Initiative (pilot)
• Target regions: Tahoua, Dosso
• Value chains: Onion, dairy, moringa
Nigeria
• Approach: Dual approach of resilience building for emergency and priority value-chain development
• Target regions: Katsina, Borno, Zamfara, Sokoto,Yobe, Kano, Ogun, Kwara, Osun, Oyo
• Value chains: tomato, cassava, maize, livestock and fisheries
Senegal
• Approach: Digital Villages Initiative
• Targets: 100 villages in Niaye, Senegal river, Anambe
• Value chains: fruits, vegetables, grains
Returns to farmers are assessed to be significant, contributing to reduction of poverty and inequality and improvement in food security.
COMMODITIES AND INTERVENTIONS
Small scale irrigation
Even though the Sahel has abundant renewable water resources, they are not being used. As such, water supply is unevenly distributed and difficult to access and manage. There is lack of infrastructure. Accessibility is on the decline due to climate change. These obstacles translate into low agricultural productivity, highest yield gaps on the continent, and persistent food insecurity. Through the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, investment priorities on water management have been decided.
Solar-powered irrigation pumps
Groundwater has played an important role in small scale irrigation in the past decades, particularly where shallow aquifers allow access via shallow wells. Conjunctive use of both groundwater and surface water sources can extend the crop production season, and offset the risks associated with surface water variability. Utilizing groundwater is undeniably essential for increasing shared prosperity in the Sahel – especially since surface water is so scarce.
Farmers in the Sahel can tap into the shallow groundwater along rivers and in lowlands to develop irrigation, with limited overexploitation risks. There is huge potential to develop shallow groundwater for farmers to take the initiative in irrigation development, tapping into the shallow groundwater with pumping equipment fitted to serve less than one to several hectares, for individuals or a small group of producers.
Solar-based surface pump solutions need to be more accessible in the Sahel to ease irrigation operations for women and other vulnerable populations while reducing pumping costs, limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and preventing groundwater overuse.
Solar-powered pumps are increasingly becoming available and affordable on the local market. Enabling the local production and distribution of proven surface solar pumps will contribute to the scale-up of groundwater-based irrigation. These pumps are also easier for women to handle and maintain, compared to diesel pumps.
More than 1.9 million hectares across all Sahel countries can be used for the development of solar powered pumps, benefiting more than 3 million farmers. Investments between 17 to 19 billion USD have an IRR of 29% over a 20-year period.
Small reservoirs
The potential of new cost-effective public infrastructure can catalyze small scale irrigation in the Sahel. These comprise small dams and pans which are typically less than 5 m in height. They can be built as dams (barriers) in drainage lines or off-channel, on perennial or ephemeral rivers.
These kinds of small water storage structures can add to the water resource potential and trigger small scale irrigation by providing additional water resources for the irrigation of adjacent arable lands. Their potential, based on broad geographic characteristics (rainfall, runoff, slope, proximity of storage sites to land, etc.)
More than 1 million hectares across all Sahel countries can be used for the development of small reservoirs, dams or pans, benefiting more than 4 million farmers. Investments between 3 to 4.5 billion USD have an IRR of around 12% over a 20-year period.
Market integration and trade
Market integration and trade is an engine of growth, development, and food security, especially as improvements in regional trade has potential in stabilizing domestic food markets.
Intra and inter regional trade in Sahel faces similar challenges such as high import and export tariffs, which are higher for agricultural products, non-tariff measures (NTM), specifically non-tariff barriers (NTB) which represent non-technical measures that difficult trade among the Sahel countries. In addition, transport and infrastructure represents a big barrier to trade between Sahel countries, where times for import and export at the border are high as well as transportation costs.
Under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework, tariff barriers are in the process on being reduced, as countries rectify the agreement. Nevertheless, there still are significant political efforts needed to achieve free trade in the region.
In addition, NTMs could diminish the effectiveness of trade agreements if the focus is only on tariff reduction, as NTMs can increase if tariffs are reduced. Efforts need to be directed to remove NTBs and overlap NTMs. Trade costs can significantly decrease if countries in the region: i) harmonize their NTMs by imposing the same set of SPS and TBT requirements, ii) agree mutual recognition, meaning countries accept each other’s conformity assessment procedures as sufficient to comply with the same standard, or iii) implement equivalence, where countries recognize other country’s standards as equivalent to their own standards.
In addition, resources must be directed to support the current functioning reporting mechanism for private sector to raise problems and to detect NTBs. This tool was developed by UNCTAD and the African Union, with the objective to help make trade on the continent easier and less costly. In two years of operation, the tool has shown tangible results and private investments are being raised to improve and expand it.
Improving infrastructure is key to reduce transportation costs which currently are high in the region and impose a barrier to trade. Building on the current initiative of the Trans-African Highway network routes, several corridors have been identified, which cover all 10 Sahel countries and are planned for roads to be improved and developed. Around 3,706 km in the 10 countries can be improved or built.
Efforts to reduce tariffs and non-tariff measures, as well as forgone income from agricultural imports and exports, and improvements in infrastructure can be estimated to amount for a total 2.9 billion USD. These measures can lead to an increase of 0.6% GDP per capita yearly meaning an average IRR for the region of 33% for 15 years, with more than 147 million beneficiaries.