Project launch workshop in Niamey, Niger

As part of the launch of the CECC project, kick-off workshops are being organized in the project’s target areas. Indeed, to ensure that the body of information and tools, which will be developed by IRD researchers and their academic and operational partners from Southern institutions, effectively meets the needs of the identified end-users, launching workshops have been planned in Niger and Senegal. The objective of these workshops is, on the one hand, to give visibility to the actions that will be carried out in each territory, but also and above all to strengthen the dialogue between the project researchers and the end-users of the deliverables, and even to identify new operational users, interested in the project results.

This first launch workshop in Niger was held at the AGRHYMET Regional Center in Niamey, which also supported its organization. This meeting was an opportunity to present the general dynamics of the CECC project and its objectives to the national and international stakeholders in the water sector who were invited: academic, institutional, and operational; but also to dialogue and exchange with them about the actions planned in the Sahel.

The opening of the workshop took place on Tuesday, December 7th, in the presence of the Minister of Humanitarian Action and Disaster Management of Niger, His Excellency Magagi Laouan, the Ambassador of France to Niger, Mr. Alexandre Garcia and the Director General of Agrhymet, Mr. Souleymane Ouédraogo. The project and its objectives were presented in general terms, and the researchers in charge of the action were able to present their work in plenary. On Thursday and Friday, the participants and the researchers were able to exchange and dialogue  during information and exchange sessions in small groups. A field visit allowed participants to visit and visualize areas of Niamey affected by river flooding and rising groundwater.