The IUCN / IIED consortium has been implementing the Global Water Initiative (GWI) project on dams since 2009. Please find attached a publication which reviews detailed experience from six dams in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal through the lens of “benefit sharing” with local populations. So far, few evaluations have been done ex post in West Africa to show the livelihood status of communities after the construction of dams.
The publication asks to what extent the affected communities have indeed benefited from the dam and how the multiple positive consequences from water use have been shared between different actors. Over 150 large dams have been built in West Africa over the last 50 years. Many more are in the planning stages to meet the region’s demands for energy, water and food and their reservoirs will displace many thousands of local people. Success in resettling affected people and in rebuilding their livelihoods has been mixed in the region. The report proposes the following lessons that can be learned from these experiences and guide future decision making:
Involve local people in the benefits the dam creates and in all decisions about its construction, investment, compensation, relocations, etc.
Replace compensation policies that reproduce previous living conditions with ones that enable local people to adapt to the changes the dam will bring, and to benefit from them.
Develop local production systems by ensuring access to land and resources in ways that are compatible with both national law and customary practices.
Establish local regulations in agreement with local stakeholders to enable fair and sustainable use of resources
Support local people’s access to the dam’s benefits by establishing preferential local access to benefits such as irrigation and electricity and by creating a local development fund that is financed by the dam’s economic activity.
