Note: This document may not always reflect the actual appropriations determined by Congress. Final budget allocations for USAID's programs are not determined until after passage of an appropriations bill and preparation of the Operating Year Budget (OYB).
SAHEL REGIONAL PROGRAM
FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999 Actuals Estimate Request Child Survival and Disease $101,000 $268,000 --- Development Assistance $3,720,000 $4,901,000 $6,000,000
Introduction
The Sahel Regional Program supports U.S. interests in improving living standards for the poor by increasing food security, thereby reducing the need for costly emergency assistance programs; by promoting political stability; and by encouraging market-oriented development. The Sahel Regional Program complements USAID's bilateral programs in West Africa by supporting intraregional dialogue to improve regional cooperation, to foster economic growth, democratization, poverty reduction and increased food security. These regional efforts are beyond the scope of bilateral efforts but vital to sustainable economic and social progress in the region. Given the small size and inter-dependence of the national economies in the region, the critical development problems of protecting the environment, increasing agricultural productivity, managing population growth, and fostering market development can only be resolved by taking a regional approach. These regional efforts in the face of reduced bilateral presence are modest, but are vital to continued movement away from drought vulnerability and toward sustainable economic and social progress in the region.
The Development Challenge
The 52 million people in the nine Sahelian countries (Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal) are among the poorest and least food secure in the world. The region is marked by high rates of deforestation, soil degradation, erosion and population growth, and weak political and private sector institutions. These fragile institutions can continue to exist only by establishing and maintaining sustainable, broad-based economic growth and more participatory and democratic institutions, where progress to date has been mixed.
There is reason for optimism, however. One of the most positive steps taken by governments in the region was the 1973 creation of the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), an intergovernmental organization which is credited with helping to avert famine - through achieving economies of scale and through increasing coordination among CILSS states and with donors in their coordinating consortium, the Club du Sahel. Jointly, CILSS and the donors have established one of the best early warning/monitoring systems in Africa. Finally, there is a growing emphasis in the region on private sector development and on greater participation at all levels of civil society.
Other Donors
Donor flows to CILSS are comprised of both direct financial and project support and indirect support in the form of targeted technical assistance. Major contributors to the 1997 CILSS externally-financed budget of $19 million are the United States (the largest contributor at 21%), Canada (4%), the European Union (11%), France (9%), Germany (3%), Italy (7%), and the Netherlands (13%).
The Sahel Regional Program also supports USAID participation in the Club du Sahel, a donor consortium and counterpart to the CILSS system. The Club serves as a forum for discussing development issues with Sahelian state and civil society partners, and as a coordination mechanism
among the donors. The budget for the Club Secretariat was approximately $2.5 million for 1997. The
United States, the largest contributor, supported 21% of the Club budget, followed by Canada (17%), the Netherlands (16%), France (13%), Switzerland (11%), Germany (10%), Japan (8%), and Denmark (3%).
FY 1999 Program
The Sahel Regional Program undertakes truly regional activities by addressing issues that cut across national boundaries, and that also realize economies of scale. The majority of the program is implemented through CILSS's institutions: Institute of the Sahel (INSAH); Center for Applied Research on Population and Development (CERPOD), which is part of INSAH; Regional Agroclimatological, Hydrological and Meteorological Institute (AGRHYMET); and CILSS headquarters. The Sahel Regional Program also provides support to the West African Enterprise Network, an organization of about 350 African business people in 13 West African countries, and fosters dialogue among the major sub-regional institutions.
This USAID program pursues broad-based economic growth in the Sahel by supporting West African organizations in addressing policy and regulatory impediments to the development of local markets and exports, especially impediments to the enabling environment affecting agriculture and commerce across national boundaries.
This program also supports the USAID Agency goal Building Democracy by improving participatory governance. While there have been setbacks in democratization in individual countries, the overall trend in the Sahel is positive. Specific approaches to promoting democracy in West Africa include: (1) strengthening the capacity of groups in civil society - particularly representatives of grassroots-level organizations - to actively participate in dialogue on democratic governance, (2) supporting opportunities to exchange ideas and experiences (e.g., thematic meetings, exchange of studies, visiting experts' seminars), and (3) supporting Sahelian institutions' production of materials (e.g., country case studies of different tenure regimes and approaches to decentralization) that will serve as the basis for discussion in regional fora.
USAID's support for improved access by decision makers to important environmental, demographic and food security information has been instrumental to the Sahelian ability to manage food security and to avert famine. USAID supports specialized regional institutions under CILSS. Activities at AGRHYMET and INSAH/Food Security and INSAH/CERPOD provide environmental monitoring, agricultural and population policy development, and demographic analysis services to CILSS member states. Support to these institutions includes measures to improve institutional sustainability, inter alia assurance of timely, high-quality information and analytical services to member states in population policy and analyses, natural resources management, agricultural policy and food security analyses and related dialogue that reflects regional, as well as national information.
SAHEL REGIONAL PROGRAM
FY 1999 PROGRAM SUMMARY
(in thousands of dollars)
USAID
Strategic and
Special
ObjectivesEconomic Growth &
AgriculturePopulation & Health
Environment
DemocracyHuman
Capacity
DevelopmentHumanitarian Assistance
TOTALS
S.O. 1.
Assist National Governments, Regional Institutions and Private Sector Associations to Identify, Clarify, and Implement Policy Options which Promote Trade and Investment in the West Africa Region
- DA
947
---
---
---
---
---
947
S.O. 2.
Promote Dialogue on the Role of Civil Society and Communal, Local and National Governments in Achieving Regional Objectives in the Management of Natural Resources, Food Security, and Market Development
- DA
---
---
---
638
---
---
638
S.O. 3.
Decision Makers Have Ready Access to Relevant Information on Food Security, Population and the Environment
- DA
1,670
945
1,800
---
---
---
4,415
Totals
- DA
2,617
945
1,800
638
---
---
6,000
USAID AFR/WA Office Director: Harry M. Lightfoot
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: SAHEL REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: Assist National Governments, Regional Institutions and Private Sector Associations to Identify, Clarify, and Implement Policy Options which Promote Trade and Investment in the West Africa Region, 625-S001
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1999: $947,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1997; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2002
Purpose: To improve trade and investment in Sahel West Africa by strengthening African leadership and intraregional cooperation in defining trade and investment policy and regulation in the region. Both public and private sector participation are supported.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID's role has been to provide strategic technical assistance and institutional support to: 1) enhance the voice of the private sector on key issues and 2) bring practical applications and approaches to a non-transparent, highly politicized policy-making process. The Sahel Regional Program has supported four activities: the Mali/Burkina Faso/Côte d'Ivoire/Ghana/Togo Livestock Action Plan; the West Africa Enterprise Network (WAEN); an activity of the Permanent Interstate Committee for the Control of Drought in the Sahel (CILSS) on trade policy; and better coordination of regional economic programs among CILSS, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).
USAID helped establish a collaborative effort among CILSS, the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo and the private sector which has helped to reduce tariffs and taxes on livestock trade, led to simplified export licensing and other documentation, and helped improve market information on livestock trade in the region. This activity has helped to facilitate livestock trade between the Sahel and coastal markets, which is a critical source of income to millions of rural Sahelians. Livestock producers and traders have continued to strengthen the organizations this activity has helped start. For example, in Burkina Faso they have created a national federation of producers and traders who together supply enough to guarantee availability of animal types and volumes to coastal markets. The government and private sector operators in Niger have made a request to their fellow West African state participants that they be included in this effort in FY 1998. This effort is now fully integrated into the CILSS policy project.
USAID technical assistance has also helped the WAEN grow into a self-supporting organization with chapters in 13 West African countries and a total of about 350 members, most of whom operate small businesses as defined under the Agency's New Partnership Initiative. Members of the WAEN have created joint business ventures such as a regional network of accountants and an export/import company which would not have been possible without this association. The WAEN is now recognized by multi-lateral donors, such as the World Bank, and regional organizations, such as ECOWAS, as a strong private sector voice in the policy dialogue. An effort to strengthen the link between West African and American business will begin in 1998 with funding from the Africa Trade and Investment Initiative. This linkage activity is expected to become self-sustaining by the end of 1999.
USAID helped strengthen coordination among the three major regional institutions in West Africa, UEMOA, ECOWAS and CILSS, culminating in a meeting among them and the WAEN in mid-1997. This meeting was one of the first such contacts among these institutions, and ended in a commitment from each institution to engage the others in their respective economic policy dialogues. They created an informal group to be called "The West Africa Forum" and set March 1998 as a date to review achievements during 1997 and to establish a sound agenda for 1998 and 1999. The Forum agenda will focus on sharing information to avoid conflicting policy formulation and implementation, and giving the private sector a voice in identifying and resolving issues inhibiting regional trade in West Africa.
Description: If food security in the Sahel is to be increased, then economic performance must be improved by expanding markets for agricultural and industrial goods. This requires that governments pursue some form of economic cooperation. This activity pursues broad-based economic growth by supporting African stakeholders to identify and address policy and regulatory impediments affecting agriculture and commerce. Planned funding for this strategic objective in FY 1999 will help maintain contact and communications among principal actors in the region and will help in monitoring activities. To achieve greater intraregional trade volumes and reduced transaction costs, USAID supports negotiation of inter-country reforms at regional fora and analyses of monetary and trade issues of importance to West African countries. Two approaches are used. The first is stakeholder participation and the development and implementation of action plans by private sector groups interacting with public sector decision makers. USAID provides technical assistance and strategically targeted direct support to ensure that the negotiations occur and that progress is made. The second approach is primarily research and dialogue, where U.S. technical expertise in agricultural commodity trade is provided to African partners who use it as the basis for formulating their policy positions. Identification of potential local markets and impediments to exploiting those markets allows stakeholders to reach agreement on and implement needed reforms.
Host Country and Other Donors: The rapid success of the WAEN created a real possibility that it would become donor-dependent because of divergent donor agendas. At USAID insistence, a unit has been created in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to coordinate donor support to the WAEN. USAID provided 57% of the financing for the $544,000 fund in 1997 -- the remainder was provided by Germany, Canada and France. In keeping with the intent that the WAEN be self-financing, direct USAID assistance was phased out in 1997, technical assistance will be reduced in 1998 and by the end of 1999 any USAID support will be minimal. Direct support has been incorporated into CILSS's $514,000 trade policy activity to which Canada (17%), France (37%) the Netherlands (20%) and the United States (22%) contributed in 1997. Donor support for West African regional economic integration receives primary support from the European Union and France. The European Union and France are the main source of support to UEMOA and the European Union is the primary source of support for ECOWAS. The USAID activity complements the support to UEMOA and ECOWAS actors in the policy arena with its support to the private sector voice, the WAEN.
Beneficiaries: The majority of the Sahelian population and the majority of the poor are rural people who engage in livestock and crop production and related trade. Urbanization in the coastal states is occurring rapidly, and these cities and towns are the fastest-growing markets for livestock products. Thus, at least half of the 260 million people in West Africa who produce, trade, and consume local products are likely to benefit from lowered trade restrictions, increased trade, and increased economic activity. Major beneficiaries will be the rural poor, especially women, because they tend to produce the commodities with the greatest potential for increased regional trade, and urban poor consumers for whom the costs of purchasing local commodities declines. Since women principally purchase and prepare food in urban areas and are especially involved in producing and trading horticultural crops, substantial benefits will flow to them.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Activities are implemented through grants to the Club du Sahel and to CILSS, and via contracts between USAID and U.S. entities, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Management Systems International, and an institutional contractor to be chosen in FY 1998.
Major Results Indicators: Baseline Target
Number of countries which use comparative advantage
as a basis for setting trade policy. 0 (1993) 6 (2002)
Marketing costs for major commodities in regional trade
reduced 20%. 0% (1993) 20% (2002)
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: SAHEL REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: Promote Dialogue on the Role of Civil Society and Communal, Local and National Governments in Achieving Regional Objectives in the Management of Natural Resources, Food Security, and Market Development, 625-S002
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1999: $638,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1997; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2002
Purpose: To promote dialogue and mutual action on issues of political and economic participation, pluralism, and effectiveness and responsiveness of government.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: Starting in late 1995, the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), with support from USAID, brought together government and civil society to express their long-term goals and aspirations for Sahelian society. This vision was presented to the Sahelian heads of state and government in a 1997 region-wide forum. The process by which the vision was formed marks a major advance in deepening the role of civil society in setting regional economic and social policy priorities and in creating stakeholders in the management of development. The vision will also be the basis for CILSS's next three-year workplan to be formulated in early 1998 and implemented in 1998-2000.
Land tenure is a major source of potential conflict in Sahelian societies. CILSS, with USAID technical and financial support, held a major conference in 1997 in which delegates from the nine member states compared their respective land tenure laws and progress in reforming them to allow for local management and adjudication of disputes. Peer pressure was at work in helping the slower countries to accelerate their pace of reform. USAID also supported a 1997 CILSS conference on women's roles in natural resources management to sensitize the leaders of the nine member states to the roles, the economic and environmental value of those roles and constraints that could be alleviated to enhance efficiency and serve justice.
Description: Sharing of perspectives, ideas and experiences among governments, non-governmental organizations and private sector actors in the region will serve as a catalyst for democratization and improved governance. Regional exchanges, analyses, and debates can play a unique role in fostering African leadership and expertise in defining principles and shaping institutions and approaches consistent with realities of West African countries. This activity contributes directly to one Agency goal, Building Democracy, and indirectly to two goals, Encouraging Broad-based Economic Growth and Protecting the Environment. This strategic objective responds to the need for institutionalized economic and political participation and decentralized democratic governance in order to sustain improvements and ensure program impact in Sahelian Africa. Attention is focused on strengthening institutions through regional networking and dialogue to support the development of an effective partnership between civil society and government entities from the community to the national level.
Experience has shown that decentralization and local empowerment in the Sahel allow local markets to flourish, contribute to food security, and improve the effectiveness of natural resources management; hence this activity cuts across and reinforces the other two activities in the Sahel Regional Program. Three sorts of approaches are being undertaken to achieve the strategic results under this activity: a) strengthening the capacity of groups in civil society to actively participate in the dialogue cited in the strategic objective, b) supporting the dialogue between these groups and government entities at regional conferences, and c) supporting Sahelian individuals and institutions to produce materials that will serve as the basis of discussion at regional exchanges. These materials include, for example, documentation of the special constraints faced by women, herders and other traditionally disadvantaged groups in obtaining and using natural resources; development of a database of successful experiences in decentralized natural resources management; and documentation of locally-financed and -managed public service provision and of alternative land tenure conflict resolution practices.
Host Country and Other Donors: The majority of the effort under this strategic objective has been designed and is being implemented by CILSS, representing the nine Sahelian states who are its members. The $1,185,000 of external financing in 1997 came from Germany (50%), the Netherlands (9%), Canada (9%), France (7%), the United States (9%) and the United Nations Sudano-Sahel Office (7%). CILSS member states made in-kind contributions valued at five percent of the overall effort. In addition to CILSS's efforts USAID supports participation by members of the West African Enterprise Network (WAEN) (13 country chapters with about 350 members and a regional network) in policy debates on economic policy, which is regarded as contributing to civil society development and debate. Donors to the WAEN facilitation fund of $544,000 in 1997 include the United States (57%), Germany, Canada and France. Recurrent WAEN expenditures are self-financed.
Beneficiaries: Direct beneficiaries are members of rural communities who achieve both greater control over their local natural resources and better, more localized mechanisms for conflict resolution. Since 80% of the population in the Sahel is rural, approximately 37 million people could benefit directly. Problems of women, pastoralists and youth in resource access and control are specially targeted.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: USAID provides support to this activity via grants to the Club du Sahel and CILSS and via contracts with U.S. entities, including an institutional contractor to be selected in FY 1998, the University of Wisconsin-Land Tenure Center and Associates in Rural Development, Inc.
Major Results Indicators:
Baseline Target
Number of regional meetings on the role of civil
society and governance in improving natural 0 (1994) 8 (2002)
resources management, public service delivery
and food security.
Number of planning, implementation and follow-up
of decisions in which relevant stakeholders are
included. None (1993) Majority (2002)
Percent of decisions which reflect positions put
forward by stakeholders. 0% (1993) 60% (2002)
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: SAHEL REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: Decision Makers Have Ready Access to Information on Food Security, Population and Environment, 625-S003
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1999: $4,415,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1997; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2002
Purpose: To improve food security and environmental equilibrium in the Sahel.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID and other donor support to the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) system over the years has helped assure that population policy programs, donor coordination, food security monitoring, and disaster mitigation systems are fairly well established. Major accomplishments are that: 1) food crises in the Sahel have been averted by helping CILSS member countries to create food early warning and food monitoring systems; 2) efficiencies have been gained from the coordination of food aid and food policy; and 3) food need assessments in the region have improved in accuracy. The region has made a strong commitment to keeping its population in balance with its limited resources, with all nine countries moving from pro-natalist to pro-family planning policies and programs over the past 10 years. CILSS has taken the lead in implementing the Africa Annex to the Desertification Convention, which has been drafted and signed; and the Early Action Programme under the Convention for Africa has been initiated.
The African Financial Community Franc (FCFA) devaluation impact monitoring work managed at the Sahel Institute (INSAH) was largely completed in FY 1997. Financing for the work will end in mid-1998. Completion of this activity means that private sector actors and policy makers understand the devaluation's impact on farmers, productivity, consumption, incomes, and trade, and that this understanding enhances policy makers' ability to participate in future discussions and decisions on monetary policy in the region.
In 1995, CILSS started a process of consultative, long-range planning to establish a Sahelian vision of the region in the 21st century. This effort, completed in 1997, was unique in that it solicited the views of a broad range of individuals and organizations in the Sahel - ranging from producer and women's organizations, to local non-governmental organizations, to Sahelian intellectuals and national and local governments. The vision statement is consistent with USAID values in that it emphasizes human resource development, institutional capacity development, sustainable agricultural, forestry and fisheries development to foster economic growth and diversification, and a united Sahel that is open to the world. The vision that emerged from the process will guide country development priorities, as well as the next generation of CILSS activities, which will start during FY 1998. A related process was undertaken by the Secretariat of the Club du Sahel (Club). This effort examined the impact of aid to the Sahel over the past 20 years and reviewed mechanisms used to deliver that aid. The results of these two efforts have provided a Sahelian-led vision which will guide USAID support to the CILSS and the Club under this Strategic Objective over the next several years.
Description: Efforts under this Strategic Objective are at the core of the regional program. They emphasize information and analysis of regional issues, especially natural resources management, environmental policy, population policy and programs, and food and agricultural policies. The intent is to enhance and expand efforts at regional coordination that have been successfully undertaken by regional institutions such as the CILSS/Club partnership, now supported by the CILSS member states, by USAID, and by other donors. Regional-level policy decisions and guidelines regarding environment, population, food security, and food aid relate directly to the goal of the CILSS and have been supported by the member states for some time. This effort reinforces the realization by the Regional Agroclimatological, Hydrological and Meteorological Institute (AGRHYMET), INSAH, and the Center for Applied Research on Population and Development (CERPOD) that a broader, West African orientation
is necessary for achieving sustainable growth in the Sahel, as are outward-looking policy decisions and policy implementation by CILSS member states.
This USAID activity supports Sahelian institutions to gather and analyze information on important food security and environmental topics, and facilitates access by Sahelian and donor decision makers to that information and analysis. Monitoring systems for the key variables in the fragile Sahelian environment are created and strengthened. USAID supports regional institutions that are part of the CILSS system (AGRHYMET, CERPOD, INSAH, and CILSS headquarters). At AGRHYMET, USAID support enables the Sahelian staff to assist CILSS member states with natural resources monitoring, coordinated annual food supply and consumption estimates and the maintenance of the Sahel's highly-regarded famine early warning system. For CERPOD, USAID support contributes to the work of a cadre of highly-trained population and health specialists who, in turn, assist the member states to improve policy and service provision in population and health. Support to INSAH helps with institutional development and the provision of services to member states (analyses, information sharing and related dialogue on natural resource management policy, agricultural policy and food security and related dialogue). Under the African Food Security Initiative, support to INSAH will include continued monitoring of the impacts of policy change on food security at national and household levels for 14 West African countries, building on the work originally started to monitor the impacts of the 1994 FCFA devaluation. Support to CILSS headquarters fosters discussion of key policy issues in a regional context, and enhances system management capacity.
Host Country and Other Donors: These activities support key CILSS services to its nine member states, and in 1997 were collaboratively funded with France (9%), Germany (3%), the Netherlands (13%), the European Union (11%), the United Nations specialized agencies (11%), Canada (4%), CILSS member states and revenues (5%), and the United States (21%). The Club du Sahel facilitates donor coordination on food aid and anti-desertification measures in the region. The Club also received support in 1997 from Canada (17%), the Netherlands (16%), France (13%), Switzerland (11%), Germany (10%), Japan (8%), and Denmark (3%).
Beneficiaries: Direct beneficiaries are CILSS member states, in particular their rural populations, via improved information, better strategic planning, and greater regional cooperation in the areas of agricultural and food policy research; natural resource management; population policy making, program planning and demographic research; and related information exchange on food security and natural resource themes.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: USAID provides support to this activity via grants to the Club and CILSS and via contracts with U.S. entities, including Associates in Rural Development, Inc.; Futures Group, Inc.; Michigan State University; Johns Hopkins University; Family Health International; the World Resources Institute; the INTERCRSP university consortium (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, managing entity); the International Resources Group, Ltd.; an institutional contractor to be chosen in FY 1998, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Major Results Indicators:
Baseline Target
Number of (CILSS) country rationales and concerted
actions for food security, natural resource management,
and population which reflect sound development
methodologies and access to regional information
systems, national environmental action plans, population policies,
and food security policies. 0 (1993) 6 (2002)
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