The restoration of the Féri-Féri hill, an example of successful sustainable GRCBC
Listed among the priority activities of the second year of the Institutionalization of Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBRBM) project of the GNDR network, the exchange visits started on July 24, 2018 in Niger, enabled a group of members from Senegal, Burkina Faso and Niger to discover a community initiative in GRCBC, a successful case study, located 114 km from Niamey. In 1998, the ADPE Bonferey group took the decision to protect and restore the Féri-Féri hill and its slopes which discharge runoff water into the peripheral district of the urban commune of Tillabéri. The initial objective of transforming 77 hectares of rocky land seemed ambitious, today the group has succeeded in greening this area with 45,000 trees planted in two decades.
Chosen among the 25 best case studies in community-based Disaster Risk Management in Africa following a call for proposals as part of the “Institutionalization of sustainable CRMBR” project, this community project of the group ADPE Bonferey is a real textbook case in the effective management of disaster risks. With 10 hectares of forest half-moons and 10,000 linear meters of stone lines, this perimeter developed in order to resolve the environmental problems of the locality, has also contributed to the creation of green jobs through the integrated management of agrosilvo-pastoral resources. In addition to the income generated from the operation of its nursery, the Bonferey group manages to sell tons of dry straw each year to the great joy of breeders in this area who have difficulty meeting the nutritional needs of their livestock.
The experience exchange visit organized by GNDR for the benefit of practitioners from Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal, made it possible to understand that it is the commitment and determination of local communities that underpin the sustainability of this initiative. . This group, which managed to enclose 40 hectares out of the 77 available, needs technical support in order to make this environmental protection an economic lever, promoting the creation of income-generating activities (AGR) thus ensuring the motivation of women and young people who demonstrate unfailing commitment.
The discussions revealed a certain number of difficulties such as the absence of water points, the obsolescence of anti-erosion structures and the inadequacy of the existing fence.
This local organization, which has worked tirelessly for 20 years to restore the Féri-Féri hill, has a clear vision of community-based disaster risk management. However, it needs to be supported, and to have the opportunity to communicate this initiative to as many people as possible, constituting a successful case study deserving of being institutionalized.
All these local initiatives constituting innovative responses to extreme climatic situations should be integrated into public DRR policies at the national level. This is also what the Nigerien state understood, which launched a ministry of humanitarian action and disaster risk management in 2016. Met as part of our exchange visit to Niger, Minister Laouan Magagi in charge of these issues, recalled that “civil society organizations and the private sector are key partners who have been included in our dedicated national platform to disaster risk reduction. This country, which has been losing 40 billion every year for forty years, has a government that wants to provide an efficient response to extreme climate disasters, and seems aware of the role that the authorities must play in encouraging and sustaining the efforts of local communities.
