ALM UNDP

Summary:

To strengthen capacities of agricultural communities to adapt to climate change in four vulnerable agro-ecological zones in Benin.

This project is a direct result of the urgent adaptation priorities identified in Benin’s NAPA. While fully complying with the directions and principles outlined in the LDCF, this project aims to provide the Government of Benin with the necessary technical and financial assistance to promote improved consideration of climate risk in the country’s national policies and most fragile agricultural regions. The ultimate aim of this intervention is to achieve critical improvement in food security and poverty reduction, as defined by the MDGs in Benin. Agriculture employs approximately 70% of the active population and contributes to 36% of the GDP and 88% of export earnings. The agricultural sector has been regarded as unproductive with low adaptation capacities for reasons linked to structural factors (high level of poverty among rural populations, weak mechanization and intensification of production modes), but also because of natural constraints (poor management of water and soils, leading to soil degradation). Climatic changes and climate variability has already affected agricultural systems nation-wide, increasing the associated risks and making the whole sector even more vulnerable.

Benin has conducted various studies within the framework of the Initial National Communication and other UNFCCC processes. These studies have enabled an analysis of the vulnerability of rural populations to climate change and variability. Within this framework, various scenarios have revealed climatic changes that will have a negative impact on the agricultural sector and consequently on the country’s food security. These include, inter alia: Reduced precipitation on the order of 20–30% at the national level, which translates into a 40–60% reduction in the availability of water resources; and an increase in violent and intense rains (frequently of 100 mm/h) that might become very irregular, this potentially leading to increased flooding and erosion of poorly protected soils, with important losses of productive potential. It is highly probable that these changes will cause degraded conditions for agricultural production, as well as decreased and greater fluctuating agricultural yields. The national food situation runs a high risk of further deterioration, posing long-term threats to the progress accomplished so far in the agricultural area and to the achievement of the MDGs in Benin. The heavy floods that seriously affected Benin in 2007 appear to corroborate such a scenario. These have clearly highlighted the country’s weak capacity in the area of climate risk prevention, and have revealed some of the most apparent obstacles to implementing an effective adaptation policy in the agricultural sector. Among these, several specific adaptation barriers must be underscored: institutional (structural weakness of the climate change committee); technical (insufficient qualified human resources within the meteorological and agricultural services); cultural (cultural and social resistance to adopting new technologies or adaptive strategies when confronted with climate risks that have been deemed harmful); or economic (measures involving an additional financial cost on the part of the producers).

Therefore, the proposed project complies with national priorities, since it integrates the “climate change adaptation” dimension into the development of the agricultural sector, a strategic pillar of the NGSPR and considered by the NAPA as being the most vulnerable. It is also closely linked to the process of decentralization currently underway in Benin since it strives to complement strengthening adaptive capacities for regional and local services through the implementation of local development plans that integrate climate change.