Panafrican News Agency

Cote d'Ivoire develops response to drought, land degradation, says President Ouattara

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara announced on Monday that said his country has developed an important programme, called "The Abidjan Initiative" or "Abidjan Legacy Programme" in response to drought and land degradation challenges.

The aim is to integrate into its development strategies, the approaches of sustainable soil management and restoration of the country's highly degraded forest ecosystems, the Ivorian government announced in a statement.

This was during the Summit of Heads of State and Government marking the official opening of the 15th Conference of the Parties on Desertification and Drought (COP 15), on Monday in Abidjan.

"I am personally carrying this initiative that we will launch during our Summit, with the hope that it will inspire other countries, in Africa and in the rest of the world. The Prime Minister and the government are fully committed to supporting this initiative," said President Ouattara.

According to the Ivorian Head of State, this programme will require the mobilisation of US$1.5 billion for its implementation over the next five years.

He also recalled that in Côte d'Ivoire, the forest area, which represented 16 million hectares in the 1900s had shrunk to 2.9 million hectares in 2021.

According to him, at the current rate, it could disappear entirely by 2050, if nothing is done.

Faced with this major challenge, he said, a new Forestry Policy and its implementation strategy have been adopted with a view to recovering three million hectares of forest by 2030, at a cost of CFAF 616 billion (about US$1.1 billion.)

This strategy promotes agroforestry and calls on the private sector to reconstitute the forest cover, explained President Ouattara, noting that Côte d'Ivoire is an agricultural country.

According to him, the impact of climatic phenomena on the land is acute in the West African country.

"Desertification and drought affect 60% of the national territory, and 90% of its northern part, and profoundly disrupt the agricultural and social agro-industry sectors, the foundation of the national economy. Desertification and drought are sources of migration and inter-community conflicts. These scourges are also a threat to our energy and health security and, in the long term, to peace," said President Ouattara.

The theme of the Summit of Heads of State and Government is "Drought and Land Restoration, in the context of the 15th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification".

The overall theme of Cop 15 is "Land. Life. Heritage: from a precarious world to a prosperous future."

-0- PANA TNDD/IS/BBA/MA 10May2022