sahara and sahel observatory - preventionweb · and fruitful partnerships are making new paths...

Knowledge

Dialogue

Joint action

An innovative framework for sustainable development in Africa

Sahara and SahelObservatory

Plaquette OSS V21 GB 17/03/06 17:44

The Sahara and Sahel regions aremore home to hope

than to despair. It is in these regions, that wecan tangibly feel the tuggings of the viciouscircle of land degradation, climate changes,biodiversity erosion and poverty.Yes, it is here, along the regions’ cusps ofsurvival – or not – that the world can walkthe talk of conferences and conventions,compare its resolutions with its resolve, andunderstand how many front lines can bedrawn in the sand.Yet it is here that virtuous circles of solidarityand fruitful partnerships are making newpaths toward sustainable development.

> land degradation, desertification, waterscarcity, biodiversity depletion, climatechange, poverty, migration.

Land degradation and water are the two major issues at the juncture ofmost of the environmental stress, poverty andscarcity of resources in the OSS region.

Here, the extremes are wide, the stakes high, thedemands tall. The fragility of survivaldepends on a scant handful of certainties– rainfall, seasons, winds, diverse species –that become more uncertain by the day.Here, the proverb that if you cannot havewhat you want, you must want what youhave, is a way of life – it seems.

> Key wordsVirtuous

circles

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Today, where solidarity is an age-old way of copingwith that fragility, each community’stragedies bounce into the other’s misfortunes,in a perverse reflection of that samesolidarity. A surge of flooding, or of drought,provokes a surge of migrant people; a rise inthe thermometer pushes down soil fertility.

> environmental security, trans-borderinteraction, joint management

Now, the vulnerabilities, and the excesses, ofother communities and other cultures faraway impinge on life and survival withinthe Sahel and Sahara rings, as humanity’sshare in climate change becomes tangible.Equally, the misuse of land, of water and ofbiodiversity within the rings adds its priceto the global menu.

> environmental degradation, climatechange, climatic extreme events, resourcedepletion.

More change lurks below the surface,where nothing human has ever been exceptour thirst. Listen. The trickling of watertables to lower, barely accessible depths.The sound of aquifers being sucked dry. Theclamour of tomorrow’s thirstiercommunities, kicking at their inherited,imposed poverty.

A change is going to come. Our change. We live in just one unjustworld where, as we share risks andmisfortunes, so we can share challenges.The key challenge in these areas is to shareresponsibilities and manage resources, withone eye on today’s needs and the other ontomorrow’s.The rich patrimony of traditions andknowledge systems of millennia in theregion provides the basis for cooperationand for creating new virtuous circles ofresearch, new paradigms of partnership.International and African initiatives such asNEPAD and the Millennium DevelopmentGoals, as sources of hope, provide theframework. We are working for newheights of scientific applications, for newmodes of observation, for new modes ofsharing information and its use by thedecision makers for concrete actions and –this is the point – new levels of changerooted in our keywords. > knowledge, dialogue and joint action.

“poverty, scarcity anddegradation rub the Earth’s saltsdeep into each other’s wounds”

The world can compare its resolutions with its resolve

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To monitor natural resources, and to continually interpret trends in theirpresence and use, are the first steps towardssound environmental management.At the front line of the joint combat againstland degradation, protecting biodiversity,mitigating of and adaptation to climatechanges – central to making developmentmore sustainable – monitoring is an essentialweapon.In much of Africa, the environmental focus ison land degradation: two-thirds of thecontinent is classed as desert or drylands and46% of the land area is vulnerable todesertification. Yet, despite these hometruths, most development policies andstrategies are reactive, aiming at managingcrises and their aftermath, rather than pro-active early warning and prevention. And sonatural phenomena become naturalcatastrophes. It need not be so. Indeed, with its mission ofenabling its member countries andorganisations to generate and manageenvironmental information, the OSS approachaims at sound management of naturalresources through better knowledge of theirproper use and potential.

With uniformly reliablebaseline data,

practitioners can share and build upknowledge on the dynamics of land

> EnvironmentSeeingthings the

sameway

“joint action forcombining localknowledge andfield and earth

observation data”degradation in specific ecosystems. Thisincludes the impact of human activities – bothlocal through, say, deforestation and farming,and from near and afar, through inducedclimatic changes.Following common methodologies andstandards, land use changes and changes inbiodiversity habitats – and in the potentialemissions of greenhouse gases from animalsand land and the potential of biomass coverto capture carbon – can be monitored,assessed and reported at local, national, sub-regional and regional levels.

Three pillars for governance The three basic components of the OSSEnvironmental Observation and MonitoringProgramme aim at strengtheningenvironmental governance in the countriesand sub-regions of the OSS.

• Environmental monitoring througha growing family of national observatorynetworks, solution-driven withsubstantial data

• Environmental early-warning systemsenabling member countries to anticipate,predict and adapt to change

• Impact assessment and monitoring ofvarious measures taken to addressenvironmental degradation, providingguidelines for overall development policiesand programmes.

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Modelling techniques can show the dynamics ofecological and socio-economic systems, climatevariability and/or climate change and theirpossible implications, and feed early-warningsystems for decision makers to be ableto consider ecological threats – andopportunities – in the short-term andfurther ahead.

Improving data accessand availability

is key to delivering to national andinternational stakeholders information whichis reliably sourced, properly analysed andauthoratively interpreted for the purposes ofplanning and decision making. Here, the OSSEnvironmental Observation and MonitoringProgramme has two thrusts. Firstly, to workwith local and national partners andstrengthen and/or mobilise their capacities incollecting, accessing, sharing andinterpreting data. Special emphasis is paid tothe combination of field and earthobservation data. This approach strengthens National, sub-Regional and Regional Action Plans andprograms as defined by the MultilateralEnvironmental Agreements (UNCCD, UNFCCCand UNCBD). It also provides sturdy supportto attaining the national and regionalpriorities indicated by Agenda 21, the NewPartnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)and the Millennium Development Goals.

• Approvedobservatory sites

• Working on pilotprogramme

The second thrust is to facilitate joint action forstandardising data, using common data setsand indicators, and agreed exchange formats.

By adding value tothe investments

made by national stakeholders, themonitoring-evaluation work of OSS iscapitalising towards the future. Theaccumulated, shared wealth of data nowdemands wider, deeper access, for reliableinformation is capital for soundenvironmental governance. This requires dataflows along the ‘knowledge chain’ presentedaccording to the needs of selected audiencesand users: local communities, researchers anddecision and policy makers.

Homogeneous farming practices Landscapes and grasslands/ woodlands Sensitivity index of soils to degradation

Risk assessment: agriculture and land degradation (ROSELT-OSS ‘Banizoumbou’ observatory, Niger, 1993)

Reliable information is capital for sound environmental governance

KENYA

ETHIOPIA

SUDAN

EGYPT

NIGERMAURITANIA MALI

NIGERIASOMALIA

LIBYA

CHAD

TANZANIA

ZAIRE

ALGERIA

GABON

CENTRALAFRICAN REPUBLIC

TUNISIA

MOROCCO

UGANDA

TOGOBENINGHANA

CÔTED'IVOIRE

LIBERIA

SIERRA LEONE

GUINEA

BURKINA

GAMBIA

CAMEROON

SAO TOME& PRINCIPE

CONGO

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

DJIBOUTI

SENEGAL

GUINEA BISSAU

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Water is the Great Leveller. The ultimate

democrat, it has great power to focus andunite minds. And the scarcer it is, the moreimperative is its sound management.The water resource of the OSS action area ismainly in major aquifers and basins. As in anyarid, semi-arid and sub-humid drylands withirregular rainfall, they are a strategic resourcefor economic and social development –especially during droughts.The known resources – comprehensive data arestill lacking for some – are under pressure fromthe competitive pin-pricks of development.In many cases, the rate of depletion fordrinking water, agriculture and export-basedagro-industry is soaring above the naturalrate of recharge from rainfall.

TaoudeniAlgeria, Mali,

Mauretania500,000 km2

(to start) Juba-OgadenEthiopia,

Kenya, Somalia1,000,000 km2

(planned)

Murzuk basinLibya

450,000 km2

(to start)

North-WestSahara Algeria,

Libya, Tunisia1,000,000 km2

(to start)

Iullemeden Algeria, Mali, Niger, Nigeria 525,000 km2

Senegalo-Mauritanian Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia 300,000 km2

(planned)

Lake Chad Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria 350,000 km2

(planned)

Nubian SandstoneChad, Egypt, Libya, Sudan2,000,000 km2

Tindouf

Er Rachidia-Béchar

Maghnia

Give and take, take, take“Simply continuing the present pace of abstractioncould be very dangerous” – NWSAS Report, 2002

Exploited for more than a century,the North-West Sahara AquiferSystem (NWSAS) has seen itsannual withdrawals explode inthe last five decades – from0.4 billion m3 in 1950and 0.6 billion m3 in 1970 to2.5 billion m3 in 2000.

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Annual rate of aquifer recharge from rainfall infiltration

The pin-pricks of developmentAs the water drawdowns expand exponentially, frommore and more pumping sites, where are the limits togrowth?

Major aquifers in the Saharaand Sahelian rings

> Water Handle withcare

1970

2000

Water scarcity =less than 1,000 m3

per person peryear. By 2025, it

will reign OSScountries Algeria,

Cape Verde, Egypt,Ethiopia, Kenya,

Libya, Somalia andTunisia.

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The consequences of depletion are dire: waterand soil quality worsens, already aggravatedby changes in climate causing less precipitationand increased evaporation. At one extreme liesdrought. At the other, the heavier rains ofirregular wet seasons can provoke erosion andwater logging.

The implications cross manyborders, not only

geopolitical. Scientific, social, agricultural andenvironmental norms and practices are allchallenged, as are those of water governance.Without the emergence, upstream, of effectivetransborder management of shared aquifers

and basins, the value of steps downstream toadjust water consumption will evaporate. The joint management of shared waterresources, typified by the OSS WaterProgramme, is in fact a key portal to otherimperatives such as combating desertification,the mitigation of – and adaptation to –drought and climate change, eradicatingpoverty and improving living conditions.

The value of sound governanceof transborder waters is shown in the North-Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS) where1 million km2 are shared by Algeria, Libya andTunisia. Exploited for more than a century, itsannual withdrawals have exploded 600% in50 years – from 0.4 billion m3 in 1950 and0.6 billion m3 in 1970 to 2.5 billion m3 in 2000.In the NWSAS project, the three countriesmandated OSS to act as a facilitator. A longprocess of dialogue has created a ‘basinawareness’. Building on earlier bilateralinitiatives, the project has worked, since 1997,to pool scientific and technical information.A common database of about 9,000 waterpoints is linked to a mathematical modelwhich allows sound spatial representation ofresources, and forecasting simulations.

This jointly-designed aquiferknowledge system

has formed the basis for national decisionmakers to form a framework for commonpolicies. Transborder cooperation can helpshape consensual planning and participatorymodels involving all stakeholders, particularlylocal communities.The OSS approach on the NWSAS basin is beingapplied in the joint project of Mali, Niger andNigeria on the Iullemeden Aquifer System. Itspotential is being recognised for other similarbasins such as the Nubian sandstone andJuba Ogaden systems. Elsewhere in Africa,where most water resources are transborder,the basin awareness approach couldunderpin common policies for economicdevelopment and integration.

“a long process of dialogue hascreated a basin awareness”

Joint management of shared water resources is a key element in African economic integration

Three pillars of ownershipThe OSS Water Programme approach,developed in the NWSAS project, has threemethodological thrusts. Based on action bynational partners, with support from OSS,it maximises ownership:

• Encouraging a shared vision of thesituation, based on expanded knowledge

• Elaborating common scientific andtechnical standards in an informationsystem on shared aquifers and basins andrisks and potentials in their use. It linkshydrologists, geologists, economists andenvironmentalists and provides apermanent, reliable base of informationfor decision makers

• Facilitating countries in the design and setup of institutional frameworks for jointmanagement of shared resources.

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Changes in soilcomposition –

studied here at theBiopedologylaboratory in

Dakar, Senegal –affect fertility,

water retention,and carbon gas

emissions

“knowledge bases in theSahara and Sahelian rings”

Sharing plans needs aframework, and

nowhere more than in research. Theemergence of common programmes betweenresearch institutions, with a special emphasison local capacity is, for OSS, a cross-cuttingpriority.The ‘Research for Development’ programme ofOSS aims at bridging the gap between theworlds of development and research. Bymobilising the African scientific community, itseeks to maximise the involvement of researchteams in the definition of environmentalresearch topics pertinent to African drylands ingeneral and desertification in particular. This approach will enhance overall advances inthe strategic areas of OSS concern:environment, land degradation, drought,biodiversity, climate change and jointmanagement of shared water resources. Assuch, it demonstrates the importance ofsynergies between research, policy andpractice where research provides a sound basisfor decision making.

Through enabling research teamsand networks

to organise and to develop and fund projects,the programme adds value to South-Southand North-South-South exchanges andstrengthens knowledge bases in the Saharaand Sahelian rings.By focusing on the OSS Environment andWater programmes, the Research programmeaims to capitalise upon their results. Upstream,themes are deduced for further researchwhilst, downstream, new elements andinsights help to define further action. Innovation is central in identifying researchtopics: priorities include identifying andmoulding the instruments of environmentalgovernance and building the ‘degradationequation’ – what, for example, are the costs ofenvironmental degradation and of inaction, ineconomic, social, ecological and developmentterms?

> Research for developmentMobilising

theAfricanscientific

community

rese

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At theAbdeladim

watershed lakein Tunisia, dataon rainfall and

water levels aretele-transmitted

to researchers

Sharing researchmethodologiessuch as theseenables bettercoverage ofresearch topicsthroughout theregion


Breathe in, breathe out,breathe networking. Visibility is the key tomore than just the effective dissemination ofinformation. OSS aims at enabling its member countries andorganisations and partners to share knowledgeresources, to add value to each other, and toshape and sustain a collective effort which playsan important part in such broader strategiesand global goals such as those set out inAgenda 21 and the Multilateral EnvironmentalAgreements, the NEPAD initiative and theMillenium Development Goals.

A pro-active communicationsstrategy

is the surest route to involve all stakeholders,through regular and customised information– and incorporating their own. It is also the

The online libraryis a wealth of data

and reports,including full text

searching,programmes such

as ROSELT andNWSAS, and the

GEO OSS MapServer of data

from OSS countrypartners and

external sources

> Information and outreachNetworking goes with the

informationflow

Publications serve asdecision-support tools,dissemination ofresearch results andoverall outreach

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way to ensure that the achievements madeby OSS and its partners, as well as theirconcerns, resonate in the wider communitiesdealing with the same focus themes.Each group of stakeholders in OSSprogrammes benefits from informationtailored to their professional and thematicneeds. This can range from distributeddatabases, common modelling tools, Web-based libraries, selective dissemination ofinformation (SDI), publications, researchreports, newsletters to multimedia products.Efforts are made to ensure that informationis shared between various groups, in a cross-cutting style.Human communication is essential, for thetransfer of knowledge occurs not only onpaper or electronic media. Regularprofessional contacts underpin informationexchange, and are strengthened by trainingopportunities.

“shapeand

sustain acollective

effort”


As a framework for North-South-South partnership,

OSS has a clear mission in mobilising anddeveloping the capacities of its members andpartners to address environmental problemsalong with sustainable development andpoverty – with a particular focus on water andland degradation issues.The role of OSS is squarely within the contextof international environmental commitments(Agenda 21, UNCCD, UNFCCC, UNCBD) forsustainable development in the arid, semi-aridand dry sub-humid zones of Africa.OSS focuses on enhancing African capacities toproduce, manage, share and disseminateinformation applicable to sustainable naturalresource management.

OSS acts as a facilitator, to promote synergies and to mobilise North-South-South partnerships. It is a flexibleorganisation with light structure. OSS membership is open to African countriesand sub-regional and regional organisations aswell as to non-African partners.Its founding principle is to work alongsidemember states and organisations, and not toact in their place.

> OSSSharingour place

in international commitments

■ Structure

In the decision making bodies of theOSS, as defined in the Constitution,consensus is given a privilegedposition.

The General Assembly meets everyfour years, bringing together allmembers and partners, to review pastactivities and to define theProgramme of Activities for thecoming four years.

The Executive Board meets once ayear. It adopts the budget andmonitors the functioning of theorganisation and of the Programmeof Activities.

The Strategic OrientationCommittee is a consultative body toprovide strategic guidance to theexecutive organs.

The Executive Secretariat assures theimplementation of decisions taken bythe Executive Board and GeneralAssembly, and of the Programme ofActivities.

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■ Members and partners(November 2005)Countries

Algeria (UMA)Burkina Faso (CILSS)CanadaCape-Verde (CILSS)Chad (CILSS)Côte d’IvoireDjibouti (IGAD)EgyptEritrea (IGAD)Ethiopia (IGAD)FranceGermanyGuinea Bissau (CILSS)ItalyKenya (IGAD)Libya (UMA)

Mali (CILSS)Mauritania (CILSS / UMA)Morocco (UMA)Niger (CILSS)Senegal (CILSS)Somalia (IGAD)Sudan (IGAD)SwitzerlandThe Gambia (CILSS)Tunisia (UMA)Uganda (IGAD)

Sub-regional African organisationsArab Maghreb Union (UMA)Intergovernmental Authority

on Development (IGAD)Permanent Interstate Committee for

Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS)Community of Sahel-Saharan States

(CEN-SAD)

Regional and internationalorganisations

African Centre of MeteorologicalApplications for Development (ACMAD)

African Organization of Cartography andRemote Sensing (AOCRS)

Food and Agriculture Organisation of theUnited Nations (FAO)

United Nations Convention to CombatDesertification (UNCCD)

United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (UNESCO)

United Nations Organisation GeneralSecretariat (UN-GS)

Civil society

Environmental Development Action in theThird World (Enda-TM)

■ The OSS time line

July 1989 A project emerged in the international community for “an observatoryof the Saharan areas, which answers the need to monitor thedevelopment of that rapidly deteriorating, fragile, arid region, in orderto protect it more effectively”. It received the support of the Summit ofthe G7 group of states.

May 1992 The Observatory of the Sahara and the Sahel (OSS) was officially createdas an international association at its founding conference in Paris, Franceand located at UNESCO headquarters.

February 1997 In Niamey, Niger, the General Assembly of the OSS decided to adopt thestatus of an international organisation and to transfer its seat to anAfrican country from its initial location hosted at UNESCO in Paris,France. The Assembly adopted the OSS 2000 Strategy which clearlyadopted Agenda 21 and the UNCCD as basis for the OSS strategicframework.

March 2000 Following an extraordinary conference held in Rabat, Morocco, the OSSbecame an international organisation established in Tunisia, under theterms of the Host Agreement between the Government of Tunisia andUNESCO, signed on 18 June 1999 and ratified by Tunisia under law2000-12 of 7 February 2000.

April 2004 In Tunis, Tunisia, the 2nd session of the OSS General Assembly adoptedthe 2010 Strategy. It extended the strategic vision of the organisation tothe major Multilateral Environmental Agreements (UNCCD, UNCBD,UNFCCC) and to African and international initiatives such as NEPAD andthe MDG.

A framework for sustainable development in Africa

■ The international time line

June 1992, June 1994At the United Nations Conference on the Environment andDevelopment (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, also known asthe Earth Summit, the UN member states adopted the Conventionson Biodiversity (UNCBD) and on Climate Change (UNFCCC).Two years later the convention on Combating Desertification(UNCCD) is adopted.

September 2000At the Millennium Summit of the United Nations, world leaders of191 countries agreed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)for “combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmentaldegradation and discrimination against women by 2015”.

April 2002, Abuja, NigeriaThe African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW) was formallylaunched to provide political leadership, policy direction andadvocacy in the provision, use and sustainable management ofwater resources in Africa.

August- September 2002The World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg,South Africa adopts the Johannesburg Plan of Implementationdetailing actions to be implemented to promote sustainabledevelopment. The plan included specific actions for Africa.

June 2003The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, meetingin Maputo, Mozambique, endorsed the Action Plan of theEnvironment Initiative of the New Partnership for Africa’sDevelopment (NEPAD).

“enhancing African capacities in information for sustainable natural resource management”

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Sahara and Sahel Observatory

■ contactOSSBoulevard du Leader Yasser ArafatBP 311080 TunisTunisiaT: +216 71 20 64 89 / + 216 71 20 66 34F: +216 71 20 66 36E: [email protected]: www.oss-online.org

Photo creditsAll photos ©OSS except:

Page 2/3Peul herder in the Sahel,

Photo M.Dukhan, ©IRDPage 4/5

Sahel landscape, Burkina Faso.

Photo A. Fournier, ©IRDPage 8/9

Students in the IRDbiopedology lab in

Dakar, Senegal. Photo J-J. Lemasson, ©IRD

Measuring rainfall and water depth, Abdeladim

hill reservoir, Tunisia. Photo J-P. Montoroi, ©IRD.

Editorial / design partners:[email protected] /

[email protected]


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