DEVELOPMENT FRESHWATER AFRICAN

Onchocerciasis

Control Programme in

West

Africa

^(OCP) Programme de

lutte contre

l'onchocercose en

Afrique

de

l'Ouest

JOINT PROGRAMME COMMITTEE

JPC . CCP

COMITE CONJOINT DU PROGRAMME

Office of the

Chairman

Bureau du Pr6sident

JOINT PROGRAMME COMMITTEE Twenty-second session

Washington D.C., 10 - 11 December 2001

JPC22IINF/DOC.1 ORIGINAL : ENGLISH

Provisional agenda item I I

WEST AFRICAN FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM PROJECT

UNDER DEVELOPMENT

1

West African Freshrvater Ecosystem Project under Development Background:

This note describes the state

of

actrons

to

secure follow-up

on

OCP's efforts to preserve the freshwater resources

in

the river blindness controlled zone

in

West Africa against adverse impact

of

the large scale pesticide-spraylng associated with ^the Programme's activities.

As may be remembered, the opening up of fertile river valleys for socio-economic development activities in West Africa ^{has been} a major objective in the establishment of the OCP tn 1914. Due to the success of OCP and other dnvrng forces rn the region such as repeated droughts, mechanizatron of agriculture and associated destruction of the tse-tse fly, land occupation in the river blindness controlled zone has indeed significantly increased over the last three

to

four decades. However, continued uncontrolled human pressure on these

relative pristine and fragile natural resources is presently endangerrng the sustainability of the agricultural production systems. As a result, the achievements of OCP to carefully protect the condition

of

freshwater resources in ^the region against the large scale pesticide-spraying associated with the Programme's activtttes, may be short hved, ironrcally, as a srde-effect of ^the resettlement.

In a desire to secure the condition

of

the freshwater resources in the region beyond the closure of OCP in 2002, the remaining constituent

of

the Hydrobiology group associated with OCP, have

jointly

sought the assistance of the World Bank to develop a longer term freshwater preservation initiative which

will

build on the partnership in the region established by OCP while looking for funding from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The remaining constituents

of

the Hydrobiology group

of

OCP represent the lnstitute for Rural Developmeni{Jniversity of Bobo Dioulasso (Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research) in Burkina Faso, the Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (Ministry of Higher Education and Screntific Research ) in ^C6te d'Ivorre, the Water Research Institute (Ministry of Environment Science and Technology) in Ghana and the Ministry of Health in Guinea. This approach has been endorsed by the Ecological Group, the Expert Advisory Committee and the Committee

of

Sponsoring Agencies

of

OCP. The project under development

will

have a life span of three years.

Project Objectives, Activities and Pilot Sites

The long term goal of ^the project under development, formally titled: "West African Freshwater Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management"

(WAFEM), is to

support conservation

of

^globally important freshwater biodiversity in relatively pristine areas of West Africa threatened by increased local human pressure.

To achieve this goal the mid-term objectives are

To

promote mainstreaming

of

community-based freshwater biodiversify conservation and ^ecosystem management in West Africa through generation and dissemination of best practices and lessons learned

from awareness raising, community participatory analysis and demonstration activities

in

the ^upper stream areas of pilot sites in 4 West African countries.

To contribute to the maintenance of the condition of the freshwater resources in West Africa which ^have been successfully protected by the River Blindness Control Programme of West Africa against adverse effects oflong term and large-scale pesticide spraying activities during the last 27 years.

To

strengthen the capacity

of

the regional partnership and expertise regarding freshwater resources preservation in the region as established by the Onchocerciasis (River Blindness) Control Programme in West Afnca (OCP/WHO).

To estabhsh a strong linkage between the above mentioned regional freshwater preservation parlnership and relevant natural resources management and/or

rural

development programs operating

on

local, national and regional level.

a

a

a

a

2

To achieve these objectives the following four tlpes of activities ^are being proposed under the project:

.

Community-Based Frcshwater Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Management:

i)

raising awareness regarding

the

linkages between

local

development needs such

as food

supply, water availabrlity and health concerns, natural resources use practices and

the

condrtion

of

^freshwater

biodiverstty and ecosystems,

ir)

rdentifying and involving repesentatrves

of the

various types

of

stakeholders making use of the local natural resources as of impact on the condition of the freshwater resources,

iir)

mobilizing and supporting local communities

in

the

pilot

sites

to

integrate freshwater biodiversify conservation and ecosystem management practices

into

their normal use

of

the ^natural resources and

iv)

assisting local communities

in

the analyses

of

the soclo-economic, technical ^and economic feasibility of such practices.

r Monitoring and

Evaluation:

i)

communify-participatoirly analyzing and demonstrating the relative impact

of

existing natural resources use practices

in

the upperstream areas

of

the

pilot

sites on the condition

of

freshwater biodiversrty and ecosystems and the impact, where measurable,

of

corrective activities in the pilot sites and ii) evaluating the projects' performance.

o

Knowledge Dissemination and Partnership Building: i) coordinating the strategies and experiences on national and regional level between the various direct project partners,

ii)

interacting actively

with

a

selected number

of

larger relevant national and regional development projects and less actively with additional relevant programs

to

promote

the

mainstreaming

of

freshwater resources preservation activities within varying types of development programs and

iii)

initiating ^a longer term institutional and financial setting for the program activities.

o

Capacity Building: i) enabhng the implementation of the previous activiry components through training activities relating to the community participatory analysis, the implementation of the community-based freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem management and the dissemination of knowledge,

ii)

significantly raising the awareness, knowledge and partnerships in the region relating to the use of community-based freshwater biodiversity

and

ecosystem management

as a tool to

support

both

sustainable local development and preservation of globally valued freshwater biodtversiry by the cumulative effect of ^the previous activities.

The

pilot

sites are the upper stream areas

of

existing OCP hydrobiology-sampling stations

in

the four Participating Countries (see Map). :

o

In Burkina Faso: The upper stream area of the bridge, Pont de Frontidre, over the L6raba River within the Como6 basin.

o

ln COte d'Ivoire: The upper stream area

of

^the village of Bandama, near the White Bandama river in the Bandama basin.

o In

Ghana: The upperstream area

of

Asubende village, via Prang, on the banks

of

the river Pru

in

^the Volta basin.

o

In Guinea: The upperstream area of the village of Boussould on the Milo river of the Niger basin.

The major achvities in all upper stream areas are cropping, livestock holding, hunting and fishing while ^the relative importance

of

these activities varies per site and remains

to be fully

determined through ^the community-participatory diagnosis

of

linkages between local development concerns, natural resources use

practices and the condition

of

freshwater resources

in

the upperstream areas and complimented

by

the monitoring and evaluation activities.

All

areas have experienced an influx of populations during the last three to four decades and are seasonally frequented by non-resident users ofthe natural resources.

Project Development Progress

Since late 1999, the four above mentioned national institutes assisted by OCP and the World Bank, have been working together to define the project in close collaboration with local non- governmental development agencies.

In

February 2000,

the

Global Environmental

Facility

awarded the project concept paper a

preparation grant of USD 25,000. Subsequently, two Stakeholders Workshops were held: in Bamako, Mali, February 23-24,2000 and in Ouagadougou, June 22-24,2000. The project proposal rvas formally submitted

J

to GEF in February 2001 and unfortunately rejected in April 2001. Since the project proponents felt that ^the reasons for rejection were not valid and that the essence of the project seemed to have been misunderstood a

formal meetrng between the GEF and the World Bank resulted in the consensus that the proponents would have another chance to resubmit the proposal provided GEF's concerns would be addressed. Although, the project proposal has been substantially revised, mostly by setting its ^goals less pretentious and making more clearly that

in this

part

of

the

world

definitively community-activrtres rather than urbanisation, major infrastructural works and indushies constitute a major threat to the relative pnstine ecology

in

these areas, one major concern of GEF has not yet been sattsfactorily resolved. This concem relates to the fact that up to date

no

formal commitment

or

arrangements have been made

to

^rntegrate the project withrn OCP and subsequently in the upcomlng West African Multidisease Surveillance Centre, once OCP

will

be closed. We are hoping to have resubmitted the WAFEM proposal to GEF, before the start of the JCP-JAF meetings.

Copies of the project proposal

will

be available at the meeting.

For Your Attention

We would very much appreciate your help

to

secure a sustainable institutronal setting

for

the WAFEM project within the subsequent regional health programs of WHO during this year's ^JPC meeting. Thank you

very

much

for your

attention. Contacts: Laurent Yameogo ncho.om Vincent Resh (vresh@Nature.Berkeley.Edu), Susan Leloup (sleloup@worldbank.org)

b