DURAGIRE

The DURAGIRE project aims to strengthen water governance, improve early warning systems, and enhance community resilience to water-related risks in the lower and middle Ouémé Valley in Benin. The project builds on the contributions of the OmiDelta programme and focuses on consolidating sustainable mechanisms for integrated water resources management at both national and local levels.

DURAGIRE is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with a budget of €11 million. The project is implemented over a three-year period (2024–2026) through a consortium led by SNV, in partnership with ANCB and VNG.

Implementation is carried out in collaboration with national and technical institutions, including the Directorate General of Water (DGEau), the Beninese Civil Protection Agency (ABPC), the Benin National Water Partnership (PNE-Benin), the National Water Institute (INE), and Haskoning, ensuring strong institutional coordination at national, basin, and community levels.

Within the consortium, SNV’s specific focus is on strengthening water governance structures, enhancing institutional capacities, and improving the functionality and integration of early warning systems.

Communities in the lower and middle Ouémé Valley face recurrent seasonal flooding, with increasing frequency due to climate change. These hazards heighten the vulnerability of rural households that depend on farming, livestock, and fishing for subsistence and livelihoods.

While Benin has adopted an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) framework, its implementation remains constrained by current institutional capacity and insufficient financial resources to sustain service delivery. Furthermore, community-based flood early warning systems are not fully operational, with some de-linked from national warning mechanisms, reducing preparedness and response effectiveness.

DURAGIRE applies a systemic and participatory IWRM approach, guided by FIETS (Financial, Institutional, Environmental, Technical, and Social) sustainability principles, as well as gender and social inclusion and conflict-sensitivity approaches. The project aligns with national government priorities and operates at national, basin, and community levels, contributing to policy and implementation coherence between different levels of government.

The project’s multi-pronged approach focuses on consolidating IWRM systems, improving the area's early warning system (EWS), and strengthening the capacity of local officials and staff across key institutions (DGEau, DDEEM, ABPC, INE) responsible for managing water resources.

Throughout the project, DURAGIRE's institutional partners play a leadership role by ensuring strategic alignment, the sustainability of the mechanisms put in place, and the integration of project achievements into national water resources management frameworks. Collaboration on the ground, along with the active participation of local authorities, decentralised technical service staff, and community members, is equally important for advancing and sustaining improvements in water resource management.

Overall objective: Improving community resilience through increased sustainability of IWRM actions

Specific objectives:

• Strengthening the institutional framework for IWRM at national level and in the Ouémé basin to improve the operationalisation of IWRM

• Strengthening local IWRM bodies in terms of their functioning and roles to improve the local operationalisation of IWRM

• Improving investment and maintenance of existing and new community-based IWRM actions to increase their scale and sustainability

• Innovating and strengthening the data and information system for the national SAP down to the community level for more sustainable, effective and accessible flood prevention