Resilience And Economic Growth in The Sahel – Accelerated Growth
Burkina Faso, Niger
Overview
The five-year, USAID Resilience and Economic Growth in the Sahel – Accelerated Growth (REGIS-AG) program (2015-2020) was designed to increase the incomes of vulnerable households by improving the performance and inclusiveness of the cowpea, poultry, and small ruminant value chains. Implemented in Niger and Burkina Faso, the $34.3 million program was one of many operating under USAID’s Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced initiative, supported by a consortium of partners and led by CNFA.
Impact
- 21,152 farmers adopted new technologies or management practices as a result of USG assistance
- 50,525 households benefitted from USG interventions
- 600 women’s groups strengthened
- 19,355 stakeholders implemented risk-reducing practices to improve resilience to climate change as a result of USG assistance
Approach
- Strengthened Resilience to Environmental, Security, and Economic Shocks: The program aimed to improve community resistance to shocks by sustainably rehabilitating markets, facilitating village-savings programs, and improving access to shared and household assets along three value chains: cowpea, poultry, and small ruminants.
- Facilitated and Catalyzed Market Systems: REGIS-AG used a “facilitation approach” that aimed to improve the function of markets and create sustainable change without becoming embedded in the system. REGIS-AG also aimed to identify opportunities through value chain and end-market analysis and to strengthen relationships across its value chains.
- Strengthened Input Supply and Improved Smallholder and Agropastoralist Access to Interconnected Markets: CNFA concentrated on improving delivery of and access to veterinary services and feed provision centers for poultry and small ruminants and strengthening the supply of agricultural inputs for cowpeas with a specific emphasis on Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage bags for improved storage practices.
- Increased Access to Finance, Innovation, and Private Sector Investments: REGIS-AG worked with private-sector investments to design and market financial products that will expand access to services, particularly for women. It also aimed to improve the enabling environment for local and regional private-sector investment by building trust between value chain actors and increasing their voices at the policy level.
- Focused on Gender and Women’s Empowerment: REGIS-AG employed a comprehensive approach to engage both men and women in overcoming structural biases and barriers in the three target value chains through education and integration into the formal market economy.
Partners
To implement REGIS-AG, Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) collaborated with a diverse group of both international and local partner organizations, including Catholic Relief Services, Association Nigérienne pour la Dynamisation des Initiatives Locales (Karkara), Association for Catalyzing Pastoral Development in Niger, Association Nodde Nooto, and The Association pour la Gestion de l’Environnement et le Développement.
