PROLAC Lake Chad Region Recovery and Development Project

OVERVIEW
The Lake Chad region suffers from poor development and economic indicators compared to the averages in the four countries. There are significant gaps in infrastructure, access to basic services is poor, and natural resources and livelihoods are severely impacted by climate change. The situation is exacerbated by insecurity prevailing since 2009 due to insurgent activities that prevents more than 49 million people from attaining their livelihoods in fishing, livestock farming and agriculture.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE
The project development objective is to contribute to the recovery of the Lake Chad region by supporting regional coordinating and crisis monitoring, connectivity and agricultural livelihoods in selected provinces of the Republic of Cameroon, Republic of Chad, and Republic of Niger.

The overall Lake Chad Region Program development objective is (PROLAC), is to support the national and regional coordination platforms and local capacity building, contribute to restore sustainable rural mobility and connectivity and strengthen the recovery of agricultural livelihoods in selected provinces of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. It will also promote knowledge sharing and regional dialogue with a data platform hosted at the Lake Chad Basin Commission, while strengthening community empowerment through citizen engagement, social cohesion activities and labor-intensive public works. PROLAC will contribute to the rehabilitation of rural roads and small transport infrastructure, and will promote productive investments by helping agricultural producers to increase productivity in the polder areas in Chad, the farming of oasis areas in Niger, and in the areas close to the shore of the Lake Chad in the Far North of Cameroon. https://www.silvera.lt/ziedai Sidabro prabanga, kuri tave apgaubs! Mūsų sidabriniai žiedai ne tik akcentuos tavo stilių, bet ir įprasmins kiekvieną akimirką. Leisk sidabrui išreikšti tavo unikalumą ir subtilų skonį!

FIVE COMPONENTS

• improve the enabling environment for mitigating risks, preventing conflict and reducing poverty around the Lake Chad through a regional coordination and knowledge/monitoring platform;
• improve the connectivity of the remote and underprivileged areas through sustainable investments in rural roads rehabilitation works and small transport infrastructure;
• support the recovery of agricultural livelihoods with the help of targeted productive and agriculture investments (polders, oasis and ponds); and
• (iv) strengthen community empowerment through citizen engagement, social cohesions activities and Labor-Intensive Public Works (LIPW).

INTERVENTION AREAS OF THE PROJECT:
Cameroon (Far North Region), Chad (Lac, Kanem, Hadjer Lamis, and Chari Baguirmi) Niger (Diffa and Zinder Regions)

BENEFICIARIES:
The project will focus on communities in selected intervention areas surrounding Lake Chad that have experienced negative impact due to the consequences of the Boko Haram crisis and/or other FCV conditions and climate change. The total number of project beneficiaies is estimated at 213,000 direct beneficaires and 1,450,000 indirect beneficiaries.

DURATION
5Years

PROJECT TOTAL COST:
US$ 170.00 million

FUNDING PARTNERS
The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA)

Sub-component 1a, Hosted by LCBC: Strengthening the Institutional, and Data Monitoring and Dissemination Capacity at the Regional Level  (US$5 million equivalent)

1. This sub-component will ensure (a) the establishment of the LCBC PROLAC PIU that will provide overall support for coordination, improving capacity of regional and national actors, and a policy and operational dialogue for the Lake Chad Region and (b) the operation and maintenance of a strategic, analytical, and monitoring platform to foster knowledge exchange, collaboration, and partnerships. The project will ensure that women’s needs are represented and that their participation can contribute to their overall development. To support women’s inclusion, the project will facilitate ad hoc training to provide women with the needed skills and knowledge to undertake these positions. This sub-component will be implemented by the LCBC.
2. The main objectives of the LCBC PROLAC PIU will be the following: (a) spearhead the development, operationalization, and monitoring of a common development vision for the Lake Chad Region; (b) facilitate knowledge creation in partnership with the LCBC, relevant think tanks, and universities in the three countries and lessons learned that have emerged from the implementation of the PROLACPROLAC and other development programs under implementation in the Lake Chad Region; (c) ensure regular learning and vision building/monitoring and sharing workshops for the Lake Chad Region countries to assess and review the implementation of the mission and coordinate and agree on next steps; and (d) contribute to a better understanding of the interlinked system of the Lake Chad Region by commissioning studies on operational models or on lessons learned from project implementation.
3. In alignment with the abovementioned main objectives of this component, key focus areas for the Knowledge and Monitoring Data Platform will include (a) initiating dialogues with academic and research institutions on the Lake Chad Region, in particular a dialogue on how to transition from a humanitarian response to a development response in the region; (b) informing decision makers in the region on investment decisions and guiding the vision for a sustainable development in the Lake Chad Region; (c) generating evidence through research for innovative operational solutions in the Lake Chad Region (such as information and communication technology [ICT]); (d) building capacity of countries and institutions in data collection, including geospatial data collection and data collation and dissemination; (d) providing knowledge management and M&E for the Lake Chad Region and the Lake Chad Region Program; (e) forging partnerships between humanitarian and development actors; and (e) consolidating and increasing capacity of the LCBC to be a strong ‘knowledge think tank’ on issues and discussions regarding the Lake Chad Region, beyond water and resource management issues. The main functions of the platform are outlined in more detail as follows:
4. Database creation, monitoring, and integration through a web-hosted platform. The platform (including supporting ICT hardware, software, connectivity, datasets, access to expertise, and training) will facilitate data computerization and collation of comprehensive spatial (for example, Geographic Information System [GIS] and remote sensing) and temporal datasets from global, regional, and local sources, including in real time (for example, including from earth observation and crowdsourcing information).
5. Dialogue with academic and research institutions, data collection, capacity building, and dissemination. The Knowledge Platform will have strong links with universities in each country bordering Lake Chad and will support research and studies of strategic importance for the Lake Chad Region. This will be done through the organization of regular knowledge sharing events, conferences, fora, and study tours. In addition, the platform will support the collection of data in the sectors’ natural resources and on climate change, service delivery and governance, justice and land, economic development, and security and power. The platform may also commission studies regarding the Lake Chad Region on agreed upon priorities in one or more of the following thematic areas: land and water management (including climate change and research on climate financing), service delivery, power and governance, security and justice, and economic development, studies on the platform’s scope and reach, studies on gender-based disparities within each of these areas, and studies on regional monitoring and data validation. The platform will also organize training and workshops for countries and institutions to build their capacity in data collection, including geospatial data collection and data collation and dissemination. A list of workshops that will be offered will be included in the PIM.
6. Organization of an Annual International Forum on the Development of the Lake Chad Region. Based on the model of other existing international events (for example, Dakar Forum, Munich Security Conference), the LCBC will organize an annual conference which aims to set up a discussion platform for active stakeholders in the Lake Chad Region. The conference will bring together, on an annual basis, high-level local and international actors and decision makers, which includes, amongst others, representatives from federal ministries of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, the LCBC and the World Bank and governors and other stakeholders. This forum will allow (i) reporting on the progress of PROLAC; (ii) discussion on existing national and regional initiatives and harmonization of these strategies; (iii) discussion and planning of new initiatives and possible closer cooperation to strengthen the impact of stabilization. This will also include a discussion on how to increase climate resilience in the Lake Chad Region. Beyond the discussions and debates, the forum will also be used as an informal platform for high-level exchanges among the LCBC member states and between member states and technical and financial partners (TFPs). The forum will be organized back-to-back with the Governors’ Forum.
7. The platform will have a section on research and mobilization of climate financing (such as international performance-based financing in sequestering greenhouse gases and more specifically carbon –– with the Bio Carbon Fund and the Private Sector). These funds could then enable them to scale up investments and ensure sustainability of the project’s activities in the area.