Analyzing and measuring populations’ resilience in the Sahel and West Africa
A further step towards the consensual tool for resilience analysis and measurement in the Sahel
Within the framework of the activities of the technical Platform for the analysis and measurement of resilience (PT-AMR), more than 30 experts including delegates from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Chad, the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), FAO, international institutions as well as non-governmental organizations, agreed on the Analytical Framework for Resilience Measurement in the Sahel and West Africa. This meeting, held in Niamey, Niger from 23 to 25 August on the premises of the AGRHYMET Regional Centre of the CILSS, marks a further milestone towards the definition of the consensual tool for resilience analysis in the Sahel. The first day brought together the members of the Platform Technical Committee for their first meeting on 23 August, and the meeting was opened to experts from other institutions and country delegates on 24 and 25 August.
Professor Guy Marcel Bouafou Kouamé, Director-General of the AGRHYMET Regional Centre, welcoming the experts, recalled “the relevance of this tool within a Sahel context characterized by important climate hazards with harmful impacts on agricultural production, livestock and forest resources, that contribute to the rise of poverty among populations in the Sahel and West Africa”.
Following a review of existing initiatives on resilience analysis, such as the RIMA methodology developed by FAO, a consensus was reached on the tool used to monitor and assess resilience-based strategies and programmes, as well as their planning. It will assess «the capacity of households, families, communities and vulnerable systems to face uncertainty and the risk of shocks, to withstand and respond effectively, as well as to recover and adapt in a sustainable manner».
This tool, which is in line with the definition of resilience adopted by the Global Alliance for Resilience in the Sahel and West Africa (AGIR), will be assessed taking into account the shocks affecting food availability such as droughts or floods, and those impacting food access such as soaring prices.
The different bodies governing the AMR Technical Platform, as well as its five-year work plan (2016-2020) were also presented during this regional meeting. Dr. Mahalmoudou Hamadoun, Coordinator of the CILSS Regional Support Programme for Food Security, Drought control, Population and Development (PRA/SA-LCD-Pop Dev) , speaking on behalf of the Executive Secretary, called upon all relevant stakeholders for “a strong commitment in this current momentum which is crucial to sustainably strengthen policies aimed at addressing food security in the Sahel and West Africa”.
The progress made toward defining this tool will be presented during the next meeting of the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) planned in December 2016. This meeting will be a tremendous opportunity to inform all the stakeholders and mobilize the necessary resources for its implementation.
FAO provided financial and technical support for the organization of this concertation meeting as part of the European Union funding awarded to FAO entitled «Information on Food Security, Nutrition and Resilience for Decision Making (INFORMED) ».
Read the report of the concertation meeting
Contact: