LoCAL UNCDF
  • About LoCAL
    • Rationale
    • Objectives and Approach
    • Performance-based grants for climate resilience
    • LoCAL Board and Forum >
      • Photos from the board and Forum
      • Videos from the LoCAL Workshop 2015
    • International Events >
      • Photos from International Workshop 2015
    • Local Team
  • Where we work
    • Project Map
    • Story Map
    • Asia >
      • Bangladesh >
        • Field Stories from Bangladesh >
          • Engaging local communities with Solar power
          • A multisector approach in Mohonpur
          • A Story or Revival
          • Revival for climate displaced communities in Bangladesh
          • Guava a high value crop to adapt to droughts
          • SIDA representative Zahra Ayadivisits LoCAL project sites in Bangladesh
        • Photos from Bangladesh
      • Bhutan >
        • Field stories from Bhutan >
          • Kingdom in the Clouds
          • Making LoCAL bridges
          • The water paradigm
          • The roads of merit
          • National Happiness
          • Bhutan in Phase 1
        • Videos from Bhutan
        • Photos from Bhutan
        • Bhutan Key documents
        • List of Projects
      • Cambodia >
        • Field Stories >
          • Positive change
          • NYU Wagner team visits Cambodia
          • Subnational Climate Change Adaptation Financing workshop
          • Scaling up LoCAL
          • The bridge that saves lives
          • Business not as usual
          • The value of water
          • Regime changes
          • No Second Chance
          • Climate Financing in Cambodia >
            • LGGG I
            • LGCC II
        • Photos from Cambodia
        • Videos from Cambodia
        • Local Project Timeline
        • Cambodia Key documents
        • Summary List of Projects >
          • Project List 2012
          • Project list 2013
          • Project list 2014
          • Project list 2015
      • Lao PDR
      • Nepal >
        • Field Stories from Nepal >
          • Workshop highlights experiences in Dhading and Rupandehi
        • Nepal Videos
        • Photos from Nepal
        • List of Activities >
          • Fund Flows
          • Project List 2015
          • at District level
          • at Village level
    • Africa >
      • Benin >
        • Field Stories from Benin >
          • LoCAL brings peppercorn to Benin's 'last mile' to encourage south-south cooperation
          • Bridging the road to climate adaptation in rural Benin
        • Videos from Benin
        • Photos from Benin
        • Key documents from Benin
      • Ghana >
        • Photos from Ghana
      • Lesotho >
        • Photos from Lesotho
      • Mali >
        • Field Stories from Mali >
          • Capacity Building of local governments in sandare/Nioro Mali
        • Photos from Mali
        • Key Documents
      • Mozambique >
        • Field Stories from Mozambique >
          • ​Mozambique Local governments mainstream climate change adaptation and food and nutrition security
        • Photos from Mozambique
      • Niger >
        • Field Stories from Niger >
          • More Water, Less Walking
          • WRI pays visit to NIger's 'Last Mile'
        • Photos from NIger
      • Tanzania >
        • Photos from Tanzania
    • Pacific >
      • Tuvalu >
        • Photos from Tuvalu
  • News
  • Partners
  • Resources
    • At a glance
    • References
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • UNCDF

Bridging the road to climate adaptation in rural Benin

7/5/2016

0 Comments

 

LoCAL’s refurbishment links patients to clinic, farmers to market, students to school

Toucountouna is a commune tucked in the north of Benin. It is so far away from Benin’s coastal strip, it takes a whole day’s trip by car to reach it through bumpy roads and potholes. In fact, the closer you get to the northern part of Benin, the less paved roads there are, which poses a great problem when the rainy season ushers in a series of floods.
​
The commune itself, which sits by the country’s border with Togo and close to Burkina Faso, covers an area of 1600 square kilometers and, as of 2002, had a population of 30,154 people.

​In a country comprised of mainly flatlands, Toucountouna lies in the most mountainous region of Benin – the department of Atacora. This allows for the diversification of crops, but makes transportation more rigorous and costly.
The “last mile” of Benin, has a lengthy rainy season but little reliable infrastructure to support transportation. This is why the commune with support from the UN Capital Development Fund’s Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) has finalized the rehabilitation of a strategic bridge in the commune of Toucountouna. The refurbishment is that of a crossing over the Kouarfa-Tampobré road, connecting four agricultural communes, according to officials.
​

Picture
Picture
Picture
The Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Toucountouna, Mr. Blaise Dekakoua, explained: “During the rainy season, the locals would have to take detours around the flow of water to cross to the other side. Trucks would have to be offloaded and reloaded again just to cross. Sometimes goods had to be carried by shoulder against strong currents. It’s an important connecting point for the area.”

It is evident that the bridge is not only necessary for business, but also for the wellbeing of the locals. This connecting point serves as direct road to a health clinic on one end and a school on the other.
 
The Kouarfa Health Clinic is within a short distance from the bridge. It is the main health institution that many locals head to for birth giving, malaria treatment, injury emergencies and immunization shots.
​The distance and time spent on the way to the health clinic has been considerably reduced after the rehabilitation of the bridge. Mrs. Teto Bagami, a local resident who recently gave birth to twins, experienced this first hand.
Without the bridge, the trip would have taken hours more and I would have had to walk for a portion of it... ...unknowingly, I arrived just in time to deliver and, little did I know, I was carrying twins.” Mrs. Teto Bagami, local resident
Picture
Mrs Teto Bagami with her twin daughters: Mart and Martine, Toucountouna, Benin ©LoCAL-UNCDF, Photo: Nasser Alqatami 2016
​“Four days ago, I felt sick with a headache and vomiting. I asked my brother to take me to clinic on his motorbike for some medicine. Without the bridge, the trip would have taken hours more and I would have had to walk for a portion of it.” She said, “Unknowingly, I arrived just in time to deliver and, little did I know, I was carrying twins.”
 
Mrs. Bagami comes back regularly for doctor’s consultations, taking the bridge route always. Her story is not unique in its sense. She named her two newly-born daughters Mart and Martine – her 10th and 11th respectively. Formerly, she would have had to walk through a contraption of laid logs and mud sand, a journey that is so arduous, some people avoided it altogether, putting their health at risk.
​
Picture
Mr. Sanda Nurrudin, Chief of Nursing at the clinic, Toucountouna, Benin ©LoCAL-UNCDF, Photo: Nasser Alqatami 2016
T​he Chief of Nursing at the clinic, Mr. Sanda Nurrudin, commented: “Due to the weather changes, we have experienced an influx of gastrointestinal problems, conditions like amoebaisis and giardia infections.”  He continued: “We treat about 150 patients every month. I would say a third of them have to cross the bridge in order to reach us.”
​

​Toucountouna was selected by LoCAL on the basis that, according to studies by the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), it is one of the more vulnerable agro-ecological regions, with potential high benefits in dealing with climate change.
 
With LoCAL funds, the commune of Toucountouna has rehabilitated the bridge that serves as a major artery in a sparsely roaded area. The aim of the bridge is not merely to connect the regions, but also to help the locals with climate adaptation in the face of unpredictable floods that can cut off transportation routes and erode the land, especially considering northern Benin’s hilly terrain.
​
Ms. Sophie De Coninck, the Programme Manager of LoCAL Africa, explained: “Benin is the first African country that joined the LoCAL mechanism late 2014. It was first piloted in three communes of Atacora-Donga. An additional three communes from Alibori are already joining with the co-financing from the Government of Benin, opening the door to many more. The example of the Toucountouna bridge illustrates well what LoCAL is about: channeling effectively international climate adaptation finance to the most remote areas and the most vulnerable people in the world.” 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    LoCAL - GLOBAL

    The LoCAL News blog brings you updated news of activities taking place at field level - to receive automatic updates, please click on our RSS feed button below. Thanks!

    Tweet
    Tweet #UNCDFLoCAL
    Follow @UNCDFLoCAL
    Tweet to @UNCDFLoCAL

    RSS Feed

    #UNCDForward Bulletin

    Archives

    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All
    Bangladesh
    Benin
    Bhutan
    Cambodia
    Ghana
    LoCAL Global
    Mali
    Mozambique
    Nepal
    Niger
    Tanzania
    Tuvalu

    Get the UNCDF Newsletter

    UNCDF Instagram

© 2014 UNCDF | Terms of Use | Information Disclosure Policy | Scam Alert | Other UN Sites
Picture

Submit

✕