The overall objective of this mission was to get acquainted with the different achievements of the TFTC project in Benin as well as with the operating and implementation principle of CWP Benin in order to create a transfer of skills and experiences between the project teams. There were exchanges with the young people of the project area (Natitingou) on their understanding of the TFTC project. Visitors could evaluate the degree of involvement of the beneficiaries of Natitingou and to collect their opinions, to get acquainted with the achievements of the TFTC project through a visit of the experimental site (Natitingou) and had exchanges with the Benin project team on the technical and institutional organization in Cotonou as well as with the field team.
CWP-Benin, thanks to its partnerships with GWP-WA, the Beninese State and donors, intervenes in the four river basins of the country through IWRM, ecosystem restoration and the animation of monitoring and management platforms.
The mission then exchanged with the representatives of Junior Chamber International (JCI) Baobab who was in charge of environmental education, the representatives of Youth Network for Green Economy (REJEVE) Benin who was in charge of the promotion of improved stoves and finally the representatives of OCJ (Consultative Organ of Youth) who was in charge of reforestation. All these associations are part of the Local Water Partnership of Attacora-Donga which is a subdivision of the Benin CWP. The visitors had a field visit to the village of Makrou-Wirou to see the 24 ha reforested, including 14 ha with cashew trees.
In addition, the team was able to see the activities carried out by environmental clubs at the education system in Birni and Yakabissi centre. The tour ended in the locality of Boufanrou to see the improved stoves. There exchanges with the beneficiaries, particularly pupils, women and farmers throughout.
This activity provided an opportunity for sharing experiences and pooling the achievements of the TFTC initiative with Benin on the one hand and contributing to a better capitalization of achievements on the other hand. Young people, women and all the beneficiaries were involved in the proper implementation of the project activities. The project has also developed a synergy of actions of the technical partners.
This mission has enabled CWP-BF to draw some lessons, namely the need to create local partnerships that integrate and involve local associations more in the project process, the concentration of certain activities in the same areas of intervention in order to create a real growth pole and finally the need to involve children more in climate change adaptation through clubs.