The main objectives of the programme were to:
- Rehabilitate and develop the economy of the Kidal area and reduce the risk of economic collapse during future droughts.
- Assist in the voluntary return and socio-economic reintegration of destitute pastoralists living under precarious conditions in neighbouring areas, northern Algeria in particular.
- Promote sustainable herder associations for self-support and as a basis for resisting future droughts.
- Increase food production through improved techniques for agriculture and livestock management.
- Promote environmental protection through rational pasture management, building on traditional experience and backed up by appropriate policies
The
major programme components were:
- development of local institutional capacity;
- credit;
- pastoral development;
- oasis agriculture development;
- social services (health and education);
- rural infrastructure development;
- studies and surveys;
- programme management;
- creation of a local development fund; and
- reintegration of displaced persons.
The programme was affected by the Touareg rebellion in Northern Mali between 1990 and 1994, and implementation was seriously delayed. However, with the return of peace, the programme assisted in the resettlement of about 30 000 returnees instead of the 3 000 initially foreseen.
With the ever-increasing need for resettlement in the region, the programme’s formerly positive impact diminished significantly. It is reported to have helped mobilize a number of grass-roots organizations and to have helped in developing local water resources for drinking water supply, vegetable gardening and watering points for cattle.
The programme fell short of its original targets and objectives in the areas of health, education, oasis development and herd reconstruction. This can be attributed to the fact that the target group increased considerably after appraisal.
Access to inputs and infrastructure
| The programme was to provide credit for herd reconstruction, and to continue and extend the pastoral credit scheme to restock the herds of poor households initiated by World Food Programme (WFP) and IFAD in 1987. |
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| Planned |
Achieved |
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| Provide credits of USD 500 per household for herd reconstruction through six cooperatives, with 600 poor households benefiting in the first year of the programme. These funds were to be used to purchase ten sheep/goats and one donkey. The cooperatives were to use repaid offspring to provide other beneficiaries with animals. Animals repaid in excess were to be sold and the money deposited in a revolving account to operate other forms of pastoral credit, such as marketing or fattening. Provide credit for 450 camels (including a small herd of milking camels and camels for transport) to well managed cooperatives. Make available prophylactic animal health care. Implement water conservation measures. |
The livestock component was held up owing to the Touareg rebellion. Through a major borehole construction programme, local water resources were developed, including watering points for cattle. |
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| The development of local institutions was a major programme component. The formulation report stressed that the development of local institutions was fundamental to ensuring good management of range resources, including pasture and water. |
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| Planned |
Achieved |
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| Strengthen existing cooperatives in the programme area by providing:
Assist in the creation of functional, small-scale associations with real responsibilities and recognized power to manage pasture and browse within a defined territory. |
No information on these activities is currently available. |
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Planned |
Achieved |
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Support pasture improvement, including improved soil and water conservation measures and experimentation (on 750 ha of land) with new institutional ways of conserving and managing regenerated pastures. Participate in Gao regional initiatives to clarify and codify pastoral land tenure, with experimental distribution of dry-season pastures to pilot cooperatives or smaller groupings. Encourage and facilitate coherent wet- and dry-season pasture rotation. |
Very little information is currently available regarding these activities. |
- According to the Project Status Report of 13 November 1999, this unusual and difficult programme would have benefited from care in the choice of cooperating institution.
- Due to external circumstances, the nature of the programme changed drastically during implementation. Under these circumstances, more detailed M&E might have been appropriate.
