Consultative Process on the Sahel Region

Background and rationale
The food security crisis that affected a number of Sahel countries in 2004-2005 highlighted once again the high level of vulnerability of the region's populations, which stems from a combination of contingent and structural factors. The recurrence of such crises – after decades of development work and in spite of the existence of sophisticated early warning and crisis management mechanisms – calls into question the effectiveness of these mechanisms, and more widely of the development models that have been applied in the countries of the region. It illustrates the obvious regional dimension of the factors underlying food crises in the Sahel, both as regards their causes and impacts, and as regards the solutions to them. It also underscores the existence of a damaging disconnect between long-term development perspectives and the humanitarian imperative.

Objectives
The overall objective of this consultative process is to contribute to minimizing future food security crises, in the context of sustainable reduction of poverty in the region. The specific objectives are:

•  take stock of past and current responses to food security crises in the Sahel region, identifying lessons learned and good practices;

•  evaluate the underlying context of extreme poverty and widespread chronic hunger within which these crises occur, and the implications of this for longer-term programmatic interventions;

•  broaden the dialogue among all relevant stakeholders – Governments of the Sahel countries, civil society organizations, national and international NGOs, regional organizations, international development and humanitarian agencies, international financial institutions, key donors – on food vulnerability and human security in the region;

•  begin to identify elements for inclusion in a coherent regional intervention strategy for permanent prevention of food crises in the Sahel.

In particular, this process aims to provide a platform for the establishment of strategic and programmatic linkages between humanitarian and development actors, at both the national, regional and the international level, with regard to food security and its implications for human security. The establishment of such linkages will help ensure greater complementarity between humanitarian action and development processes.

The development of a regional intervention framework is an appropriate means for achieving this goal both for economic reasons (economies of scale and efficiency) and for political reasons (growing will on the part of African countries and donors to develop regional dynamics through the strengthening of Regional Economic Integration Organisations).