REGIONAL PROJECT/PROGRAMME PROPOSAL PART I: PROJECT/PROGRAMME INFORMATION Title of Project/Programme: Improved Resilience of Coastal Communities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Countries: Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Thematic Focal Area: Disaster risk reduction and early warning systems Type of Implementing Entity: MIE Implementing Entity United Nations Human Settlements Programme Executing Entities: Ghana: LUSPA; NGO Côte d’Ivoire: Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Planning and Development; NGOs Amount of Financing Requested: US$ 13,951,160 Deleted: 59 PROJECT BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT I. Problem statement Coastal cities and communities in West Africa are facing the combined challenges of rapid urbanisation and climate change, especially sea level rise and related increased risks of erosion, inundation and floods. For cities and communities in West Africa not to be flooded or submerged, and critically exposed to rising seas and storm surges in the next decade(s), they urgently need to increase the protection of their coastline and infrastructure, adapt to create alternative livelihoods in the inland and promote a climate change resilient urban development path. This can be done by using a combination of climate change sensitive spatial planning strategies and innovative and ecosystem-based solutions to protect land, people and assets, by implementing nature-based solutions and ‘living shorelines,’ which redirect the forces of nature rather than oppose them. he Governments of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have requested UN-Habitat to support coastal (and riverine / delta) cities Deleted: T and communities to better adapt to climate change. This project proposal aims at responding to this request by addressing the main challenges in these coastal zones: coastal erosion, coastal inundation / flooding and livelihoods’ resilience. Figure 1. Jacqueville community flooded by lagoon in Côte Figure 2. Fuvemeh small village flooding during high tides in d’Ivoire (2017) Ghana (2016) This is of high relevance given that settlements in the West African coast are growing at unprecedented rates. World Bank data shows that 25 to 80 percent of each country’s population lives in coastal zones, totalling more than 88 million people.1 Specifically in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, it is estimated that already 40 percent of the people are settled in coastal zones, totalling more than 20 million people. This coastal development is generally uncontrolled and unplanned, deriving in rapid development and precarious human settlements. Climate change coupled with these growth trends are making communities and ecosystems increasingly vulnerable. 1 World Bank. 2012. Country Fact Sheets prepared for West Africa Coastal Climate Change National Adaptation Planning Workshop 1 Figure 3. Vulnerable urban coastal areas in Western Africa. Source: WB WACA project 2017 (with identified large urban populations, flood exposure, land elevation and erosion hotspots). To respond to these challenges, national and local governments and communities need to better (i) (spatially) plan coastal development considering climate change risks, (ii) better protect the coastal ecosystem and related livelihoods from climate change risks and impacts, (iii) invest in infrastructure to strengthen resilience and environmental protection, and (iv) strengthen their capacities to shift to a more sustainable and resilient development pattern and governing system of the coastal areas. Given the regional similarity of the natural hazards and vulnerabilities, as well as the transboundary character of the existing challenges and their interdependencies, the project proposes to work at regional scale. This will allow addressing the micro, meso and macro dynamics of climate change impacts and proposing solutions that solve climate change related challenges locally without producing negative externalities along other areas of the coastline. The regional scope will also ensure the cost effectiveness of the technical and institutional solutions as well as the future and coherent replication of successful solutions in other coastal countries in West Africa (i.e Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, Benin and Nigeria). II. West African context i. Regional overview Socio-economic context According to the World population prospects of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, West Africa's total population is estimated at 381 million people as of 20182. Coastal areas account for 30% of this total. The real GDP growth for West Africa was estimated at 3.3% in 2018, slightly below the continental average of 4%.3 However, 2 "World Population prospects – Population division". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019. 3 African Economic outlook, African Development Bank Group, 2018 2 economic growth disparities do exist among the countries of the region. Some countries are experiencing higher economic growth while others are expected to decline. The region has been experiencing intensive urbanization for more than fifty years. This urbanization has affected the region’s largest towns and small urban centers mostly in coastal countries. Indeed, a large percentage of West Africa's urban population lives in coastal cities. The population concentrated in coastal urban areas, (in 11 coastal countries from Senegal to Nigeria), could double by 2030 and double again by 2050. In Lagos only, the number of inhabitants could almost reach 90 million by 2100, making it the largest city in the world by then.4 The 2010 UNHABITAT State of the World Cities report identified "megaregions" and "urban corridors" as new urban forms that could be "one of the most significant developments—and problems—in the way people live and economies grow in the next 50 years". The Abidjan-Lagos corridor is one of these megaregions, with a fast-growing urban population of over 30 million. Many experts5 consider this coastal urban corridor to be the engine of West Africa‘s regional economy. Prevention of coastal risks taken in this context is crucial, as countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria, have most of their economic activities located within the coastal zone. Despite this urbanization, rural development plays a key role as agriculture is still the cornerstone of rural economies in West Africa. Agriculture accounts for 65% of employment and 35% of gross domestic product (GDP)6. Marine artisanal fishing is also a major contributor to this GDP. Still, poverty is higher in rural areas where most of the population, nearly 80% of the region, depends on subsistence agriculture and fishing. Nowadays, these activities are generating fewer jobs due to how badly they are impacted by climate change and unsustainable practices. This explains why rural areas are diversifying and highlights the importance of its interaction with urban settlements as growth continues. Another major socioeconomic challenge in West Africa is the high unemployment rate. After declining from 4.2% in 2010, to 3.7%in 2015, the region’s average rate of unemployment shot up to 5.2% in 2018. Youth unemployment is generally much higher than adult unemployment. Figure 4. Abidjan-Lagos corredor mega region. UN-Habitat Environmental context West Africa has a total land area of 6,140,000 km2, or approximately one-fifth of Africa. The region is around 300 meters above sea level with only a few mountainous areas. The land consists of contrasting kinds of physical environment, among which we find forests, savannas, mountainous areas, flat lands, riverine areas, and sandy soil. Its coastline is also a major ecosystem accounting for over 10,000 kilometers which extend from Mauritania to Benin. This natural environment supplies the region with a rich natural resource base including soil, forest, rangeland, freshwater, and marine resources. This produces a variety of goods and services which strongly support livelihoods of rural population. This is particularly evident in coastal areas, and even more in estuary systems and fluvio-marine connections, where these resources contribute directly to producing ecological services that are useful or even indispensable to the coastal societies.7 For example: • Self-maintenance services: constitution of habitats, maintaining of energy flows and nutritional cycles through primary production, inter- and intra-ecosystem services and functions, reproduction, nourishment, etc. 4 http://www.visualcapitalist.com/animated-map-worlds-populous-cities-2100/ 5 https://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/PublicationFiles/int_progr_ri_inceptionecowaseng.pdf 6 West Africa Economic outlook, African Development Bank Group, 2019 7 West African Coastal Areas Challenges, Coastal Ecosystems Group of the Commission on Ecosystem Management, IUCN, 2014 3 • Provisioning services: fisheries (artisanal, commercial), agriculture, firewood, aquaculture, freshwater, and medicines etc. • Regulation services: climate regulation, sediment trapping and coastal protection against marine erosion, wastewater management and purification, etc • Cultural services: recreation and ecotourism, religious heritage, and educational. Map 1. Bioclimatic regions and coastal dynamics in Gulf of Guinea. UN-Habitat Coastal areas and deltas consist of sediments which are mainly supplied from upstream catchments by rivers This transport is very dynamic both downstream and along the coast, and it is driven by predominant flow conditions.