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West and Central Africa

DREVE will comprise four pillars: Pillar 1: Transboundary River Basin CIWA also supported the review of studies to develop navigation

Development, Resilience, and Governance; Pillar 2: Groundwater on the Senegal River to be financed under DREVE, which will have

for Development and Resilience; Pillar 3: Leveraging Transboundary significant regional benefits. Through expert technical review,
Water for Irrigation and Food Security; and Pillar 4: Strengthening CIWA supported the Organization for the Development of the
Regional Water Security and Climate Resilience. Senegal River (OMVS) in ensuring the quality of existing studies
for the development of locks and dikes.
The CIWA initiative provided technical assistance to the Water
Resources Management Center of ECOWAS, the Permanent Sahel Irrigation Strategy
Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel, and
WAEMU. It supported the mobilization of a set of thematic working The Sahel’s climate is marked by hot, arid conditions compounded
groups comprising these three organizations, the World Bank, by variable rainfall and increasing climate change impacts, which
and others to discuss how water resources cooperation could threaten water security. Water stress has increased from droughts,
be strengthened through DREVE. CIWA supported the design of floods, and deteriorating water quality, threatening economic growth,

the activities under Pillar 4 of DREVE and will co-finance DREVE which continues to depend on water-intensive sectors including
to support the implementation of Pillar 4. CIWA supported a agriculture, mining, and tourism. Surface water, which makes up most
presentation about DREVE in 2024 at the 11th session of the technical of the country’s renewable water resources and is the main source
expert committee of the Permanent Framework for Coordination for agriculture, is largely transboundary and already fails to fully meet
and Monitoring of Integrated Water Resources Management in demand in dry years.
West Africa and the 5th Ministerial Monitoring Committee for IWRM
in West Africa. CIWA informed the planning and design of DREVE irrigation
work, with the Sahel Irrigation Strategy assessing the past
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CIWA financed expertise to design a structure for the West Africa decade of World Bank Water Department activities by
Water Fund. This fund would be made available through regional evaluating the socioeconomic impacts and identifying levers
organizations such as WAEMU or ECOWAS and would support both to accelerate the progress needed for food security. The Sahel
strategic WRM studies and feasibility studies for transformative has irrigated approximately 285,000 ha, which, while representing
hydraulic investments in West Africa. The fund will be accessible to significant progress, falls short of the 1 million ha target set in 2013

countries and regional organizations and the private sector through and reflects a lack of sustainable financing for irrigation and issues

an application process supported by DREVE. around O&M.

3 https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099070725122032185
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