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1. Introduction In Sahel, about 65 per cent of the active population among which more the half is female work in the agricultural sector and their living standard depend on climatic variations, markets trends and environmental factors. Recurrent crises make that men, women and children food and nutritional situations remain all the more worrisome. In fact ,the growing exposition of poor households to multiple risk factors whether related to environment, production, or markets trends maintain their vulnerability in a long run as long as policies and agricultural programs will not address in a strategic way their reinforcement . Incidentally, an important part of the population (around 40 per cent) have no access to a normal nutrition neither qualitative nor quantitative and live a chronical,acute situation of poverty and food insecurity. In 2013, estimates show that 11.3 millions of people face a high risk of food and nutritional insecurity and 4.9 millions of children under five years, pregnant and breastfeeding women face a risk of acute ill nutrition. In a likely trend, in West Africa, more than 600 000 children die from causes directly linked to ill nutrition every year. Ill nutrition is related to more than 30 per cent of deaths among the children under five years old. The ones saved will see their intellectual quotient (IQ) reduced from 10 to 15 points. The direct correlation and impact is a subsequent reduction of income from 22 to 45 per cent and at the scale of the country a decrease from 3 to 8 per cent of the annual GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Iron, iode, vitamin A and zinc shortages represent some public health issues in the West African region and truly blockages for this region economic growth and development reducing learning and physical capacities for its present and future production. Twelve years after the adoption of the Strategic Framework for Food Security in a Fighting perspective against Poverty (CSSA) by the Permanent Interstates Committee For Drought Control in the Sahel countries members, 10 years after the adoption of the Union Agricultural Policy (UAP) in the WAEMU space and seven years after the ECOWAP adoption the results and achievements made still remain mitigated. They do not allow foreseeing a secured access to a nutritive and healthy feeding for all West African people in a short and mid‐term projection. The ECOWAS new initiative « Zero hunger », supported by the FAO and other technical and financial partners, seizes to federate Governments, Parliaments shareholders in the civil society and producers’ organizations around a central stake: eradicating hunger within year 2020, and get some significative advancements within year 2015. 2
Zero hunger in the verge of the twenty coming years seemingly represent the Global Alliance for Resilience (AGIR) strategic vision, likely as other development initiatives growing up in order to better apprehend the settlement and implementation of programs directly focused on vulnerable populations and their fundamental right for a decent, healthy and nutritive feeding. At short term, the Alliance aims at strengthening Sahel and West African households and vulnerable communities’ resilience to future shocks. AGIR proposes to implement in a complementary way some actions at three levels : i) local, ii) national, as a support to funding programs and concertation mechanisms already existing, iii) regional as a support/accompaniment to regional plans and mechanisms already implemented by the three regional organizations (ECOWAS, WAEMU, CILSS). Its global objective is « Reducing structurally and in a sustainable way the food and nutritional vulnerability giving the best accompaniment to the settlement of sahelian and West African policies ». 2. Justification The deep causes of vulnerability to food insecurity and ill nutrition are both complex and multishaped. They are most often related to a group of factors such as poverty, health, hygiene, access to basic social services and facilities, habits and nutrition behaviors, socio‐cultural norms, as well as food security including sociological factors connected to each other altogether making that a high number of people stay in a long run and persist in a state of permanent vulnerability. Nevertheless, recurrent crises allowed improving tools for situation assessment and analysis, vulnerable populations’ identification. They also allowed proposing some innovating practices taking into account risks reduction mechanisms, adaptions to climatic changes, fight against ill nutrition but also at the level of social protection above all social nets and monetary transfers. Experience sharing and good practices as well as lessons made between the sub‐ region main shareholders and the ones in the Africa Horn can significantly contribute to the betterment of technics and approaches in favor food and nutritional security in favor the most vulnerable populations. In the efforts towards an adaptation to droughts, risks minimizations, and living conditions improvement, the countries in the Sahel and West Africa experimented various initiatives those last twenty years through some research project and dissemination of more suitable technologies. Thus, the selection and dissemination of varieties resistant to drought was developed, crops diversification, cereals low‐cost fertilization, husbandry of illness‐ resistant animals, lodder conservation, as well as natural resources management and the sustainable use of ecosystems. Thanks to national policies for Natural Resources Management (NRM/GRN) placing man at the center of the process, the Sahel has greenish in some areas. For instance in Burkina‐Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal. We seemingly observe in the sub‐region a kind of “invisible revolution” with the use of simple technics with populations (stony cordons, zaï and half‐moons, anti‐erosive banks, natural –assisted regeneration [NAR], sahelian bocage, etc.) giving some practical and efficient in terms of productivity outcomes, and biodiversity improvement. In a likely trend, the CILSS, through the closed monitoring of food and nutritional situation pilots and manages the unique Prevention and Management Program of Food crises in West Africa (PREGEC). Thanks to this program, the Sahel and West Africa are informed in advance of possible crises at weak or large scale. Different shapes of institutional innovations happened those last years for going beyond numerous constraints affecting small producers in rural areas. Those organizations and innovating institutional arrangements can provide to small producers a rank of services making easier their access to markets 3
and their negociation power (warrantage and producers’ gathering in organizations ), access to natural resources and their management (mediation committees for land conflicts management or land use access securisation, female associations dedicated to degraded land rehabilitation…) as well as the access to information and knowledge (alliance with the private, and public sector for making easier the access to information namely through school fields). 4
Thus the sub region has got a sure and trustable expertise, a confirmed know‐how likely as technologies and good practices often weakly shared and disseminated, sometimes not documented and consequently rarely implemented at the scale of a region or a country. States’ weaknesses regarding knowledge management systems represent a clear handicap preventing to capitalize all the knowledge, stock fund of experience gathered after important investments made both by governments and partners. The most suitable practices showing out the most probant results and outcomes on sahelian rural populations quality of life could be consequently fully taken into account in policies and national programs for developing the communities exposed to shocks ,food and nutritional risks’ resilience. In this spirit of exchange and food security improvement in the Sahel and West Africa, the CILSS and the FAO, with the CILSS traditional technical and financial partners support organize a Fair of Knowledge on the Sahelian populations Resilience. This initiative will see the effective participation of the IGAD. In fact it is during the Fair of Knowledge for the Horn of Africa organized by the IGAD with the FAO support that the CILSS Executive Secretary made a call for the settlement of South/South cooperation between the two institutions for better structuring exchanges on the basic principle of give and take. In this context, the CILSS required a support from the FAO for the organization in the current 2013 of a « Fair of Knowledge in the Sahel and West Africa » capitalizing the IGAD stock fund of experience. This international event will take place in Ouagadougou from November 5th to 7th 2013, relying on the effective participation of the main institutions committed in the reinforcement of resilience and the improvement of food and nutritional security at the regional, national, and community levels. 3. Objectives of the Fair of Knowledge The main goal of the Fair of Knowledge is reinforcing the institutions’ knowledge regarding measures and practices for an improvement of the Sahelian and West African populations. The Fair will allow a knowledge sharing both at the level of the most suitable programs, policies and strategies for the two sub‐regions. More specifically, the stake is offering a space for experience sharing between shareholders of the specific sectors mentioned which will make easier: The mutual learning process The reinforcement of networks and partnerships The implementation of good practices at the national and regional levels 4. Main issues and thematics at the Fair of Knowledge The main issue at the present Fair of Knowledge concerns the consolidation of resilience to food and nutritional security in the Sahel and West Africa. Resilience according to the FAO can be considered as the capacity to prevent and soften the impact of catastrophes and crises as well as anticipating, absorbing the shocks, adapt or recapture the situation in a quick, efficient and sustainable way. It includes the protection, the restoration, the transformation and the improvement of livelihood systems front of the threats having an impact on agriculture, food security and food sanitary security. 5
This definition is in perfect concordance with the strategic goals of the Global Alliance of resilience initiatives in the Sahel and West Africa AGIR‐SAHEL and its « Zero hunger » in the verge of the twenty years coming. In accordance with the global definition of resilience and the sub‐region priorities, the main issues will be dealt with following the backbone below: Topics/issues Sub‐topics Soils fertility management and agro‐forestry Water management and control Domestic energy ‐ Sustainable management of natural 1 Environmental education resources and climatic changes Information system and environmental watching out Land management Ecosystems protection Information systems on pastoralism Breeding lands land management and lodder ‐ Breeding focused on pastoralism production
2 Transhumance management Policies for pastoral breeding Information for decision‐making and action ‐ Prevention and softening food and Transformation and valorization of 3 nutritional insecurity: agricultural,forestry,water and breeding products Resilient agricultural practices PO’s and Civil society actions in the management of catastrophes and crises. 4 ‐ Risks , threats and crises management Reglementation Catastrophes management Food crises management Demography food and nutritional security in the Sahel 5 ‐ Social protection Social nets mechanisms and the improvement of households and means of subsistance The following topics and thematics are not exhaustive. Inside every topic and related issues, good practices will be identified, selected and shared to make easier exchange, learning and networking. The impact of good practices on vulnerable populations living conditions must be a key factor in the validation process of good practices. 5. Date and place for the Fair i).
Date : 05th to 07th November 2013 ii).
Place : Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 6
6. Participants The Fair of Knowledge will gather the ECOWAS, the CILSS countries with a particular focus on the IGAD participation within a few countries of its coverage. Nevertheless, some participants for other regions will be welcomed indeed depending on the hosting capacities of the event. The participants will include the representatives of the following structures: The intergovernmental organizations (IGO) The concerned Ministries (Agriculture, Breeding, Fishery, Forestry, Health, protection and Social Affairs, etc.) Financial and Technical partners (Bi and multilateral cooperation, United Nations System) Shareholders networks and Civil society (Producers, female and agro pastoral organizations) NGO’s Universities and Research centers The Private sector 7. Format Several methods, tools and technics will be used during the Fair. We can quote : a) Complete forum meetings b) Discussion panels c) Markets place/Stands d) Posters, Videos, flyers e) Training sessions f) Forum g) Informal exchanges 8. Communication A dynamic and multi‐shaped communication before, during and after the Fair will be settled. Communication channels such as blogs, tweets, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, magazines, radio, television, and specialized websites will be used. An information and communication plan will be established by the CILSS and the FAO. 9. After Fair follow‐up and monitoring A follow‐up, monitoring and capitalization dispositive as well as a network or exchange platform will be settled for following the outcomes of the Fair. The stake will be settling a network, gathering all the shareholders, at the national, sub regional and regional levels in order to encourage the sharing implementation of best practices taking into account each country and sub‐region specificities. An accompaniment will allow each country to identify the geographic areas and the actors where recognized good practices could be used as replicate and adopted. A network on pastoralism among the CILSS shareholders and the IGAD ones will be encouraged. 7
10. Information For further information please contact: Nourou Macki Tall Program Manager in charge of Operations for the Sahel / West Africa FAO Regional Office for Africa Accra, Ghana Tel: (+233) 302675000 Email : [email protected] Alexis Bonte Resilience Cordinator FAO Regional Office fo rAfrica Accra, Ghana Tel: (+233) 302675000 Email : [email protected] Cheikh LY FAO Breeding Head Officer Regional Office for Africa Accra, Ghana Tel: (+233) 302675000 Email : [email protected] Mahalmoudou Hamadoun PhD PRA/SA‐LCD‐POP DEV Coordinator CILSS, Excecutive Secretariat Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Tel : (+226) 50 37 41 25/28 Private mobile phone : (+226) 70 33 69 46 Email : [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Félix Compaoré GRN Expert CILSS, Executive Secretariat Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Tel : (+226) 50 37 41 25/28 Private mobile phone : (+226) 70 26 63 70 Email : [email protected] Ector Sedar Houssou Expert in Food Security CILSS, Executive Secretariat Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Tel : (+226) 50 37 41 25/28 Privé : (+226) 65 99 90 71 Email : [email protected] 8