The World Bank Landscape Integrated Development and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) Project Information Document (PID) Concept Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 01-Nov-2021 | Report No: PIDC32924 Oct 22, 2021 Page 1 of 24 The World Bank Landscape Integrated Development and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data OPS TABLE Country Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Project Name Mali P177041 Landscape Restoration and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) AFRICA WEST Mar 14, 2022 Jun 23, 2022 Environment, Natural Resources & the Blue Economy Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Investment Project Financing Republic of Mali Agence de l'Environnement et Developpement Durable (AEDD) Proposed Development Objective(s) to rebuild land ecological integrity and enhance people’s lives in targeted communes in Mali PROJECT FINANCING DATA (US$, Millions) SUMMARY-NewFin1 Total Project Cost 150.00 Total Financing 150.00 of which IBRD/IDA 150.00 Financing Gap 0.00 DETAILS -NewFinEnh1 World Bank Group Financing International Development Association (IDA) 150.00 IDA Credit 75.00 IDA Grant 75.00 Oct 22, 2021 Page 2 of 24 The World Bank Landscape Integrated Development and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) Environmental and Social Risk Classification Concept Review Decision Substantial Track II-The review did authorize the preparation to continue B. Introduction and Context Country Context 1. Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, is a landlocked country with an area of 1,240 million km2, with a population of 20,8 million, a high average annual growth rate of nearly three percent and a median age of 16 years. With a per capita GDP estimated at USD 879, Mali ranks as the 22nd poorest country in the world. The proportion of the Malian population living under the national poverty line is 42 percent in 2018/19 and is concentrated in rural areas, which is equivalent to 8.3 million poor (using the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) household survey). Most of the Malian population lives in the south of the country close to the Senegal and Niger rivers, 57 percent of the population resides in rural areas, and 12 percent in the capital city of Bamako. About 80 percent of Mali’s poor population lives in four regions: Koulikoro, Mopti, Ségou, and Sikasso. The country is characterized by high regional disparities and access to basic services and infrastructure is low and highly unequal. Poverty rates were highest in Sikasso (63 percent in 2019), where households depend on cotton farming, high in Ségou (53 percent) and Mopti (61 percent) where families mostly depend on rainfed sorghum and millet cultivation while in Kayes, where households depend on remittances and livestock rearing, poverty is lower (33 percent). 1 Sikasso and Kayes were strongly hit by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic with the fall in cotton prices and remittances, respectively.2 2. The country's economy is mainly based on the exploitation of natural resources. High population growth (3.36% per year) and climatic constraints have led to overexploitation and degradation of these resources. Two thirds of the country is arid and semi-arid dominated by desertification. Natural risks have increased with the intensification of climate change: repeated droughts, floods, strong winds, bush fires, changes in the rain regime. While the economy is heavily dependent on natural resources and agricultural, which employs nearly 80% of the country's labor force, only 14% of the country’s land area is considered suitable for agriculture, making sustainable land management a central issue. 3. The political and security situation in Mali has been volatile since the 2012 coup d’état . The peace agreement had created the minimum conditions for the Malian authorities to address challenges related to poverty reduction, including in the North. However, implementing the peace agreement is challenging as the security situation remains volatile. Armed groups control important large areas particularly in the center. Their highly mobile members are dispersed across the country and participate in the explicit denunciation of the state and its institutions. The destruction of infrastructures and the presence of mines on the roads prevent movement and the holding of fairs and markets. Some rural areas are, in fact, increasingly isolated and deprived of sources of food. As identified in the World Bank’s 2020 Risk and Resilience Assessment (RRA), Mali’s situation in terms of fragility, conflicts and violence (FCV) is driven by at least three main risk drivers, namely: (i) Low public confidence and trust in state institution accompanied 1 For this entire paragraph, see: United Nations estimate (July 2021). According to the results of the Agricultural Economic Survey integrated into household living conditions (ECA), the agricultural population stands at 16,833,767, of which 48.3% are women (EAC 2018); World Bank, 2020; World Bank 2015a. 2 Mali Poverty Assessment (2020; P171551). Oct 22, 2021 Page 3 of 24 The World Bank Landscape Integrated Development and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) by shortcomings in service delivery and lack of inclusive governance; (ii) Increasing competition over natural resources (land, water, forests, grazing areas, halieutic resources, as well as extractive resources), which has contributed to the escalation of all types of violence and is likely to increase due to demographic trends and the effects of climate change; and (iii) Subnational conflicts within large areas (mostly, Kidal, Gao, Menaka, Timbuktu, Mopti, and parts of Ségou), which produce endemic violence, drive local political fragmentation, and erode national cohesion and state authority (violence fueled by inter- and intra-communal conflict has expanded from the north to the central region and much of the affected area remains outside of control of authorities).3 4. Mali landscape is mostly flat to hilly, occasionally interrupted by high rising plateaus. In the north, the Sahara Desert covers almost half of the country. The open steppes of the Akle Azaouad plateau and rocky terrain of Adrar-Timetrines and of Tilemsi make large east-west swaths across the country. The southern Sahara transitions into the semiarid Sahel Region — the domain of pastoralists — and gets interrupted in central Mali by the seasonally flooded alluvial plain of the Inland Niger Delta. The southern strip of this large plain is bordered by the Koutiala and Bandiagara- Hombori plateaus, the latter rising to 1,155 m. In the south, the plains of the Sudanian Region account for the majority of the country’s agricultural land.4 (see map1) Map 1: Ecoregions and Topography (source: MEADD) 5. Over the last decades, Mali has been facing a multidimensional crisis with economic, social, political, and human dimensions which have serious repercussions on natural resources and local communities’ livelihood. Malian landscapes and their natural resources are under pressure from unsustainable land uses. This situation is further 3 World Bank, 2019b. 4 https://eros.usgs.gov/westafrica/country/republic-mali Oct 22, 2021 Page 4 of 24 The World Bank Landscape Integrated Development and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) exacerbated by (i) extreme climate change-related events, which contribute to the degradation of ecosystems, the erosion of biodiversity; (ii) the emergence of social tension and conflicts about access and use of natural resources; and (iii) armed conflicts that can contaminate water, soil and land, or release pollutants into the air and endanger wild flora and fauna. The indirect effects of conflicts such as: weakening the capacity of environmental institutions, massive population displacements or of natural resources’ exploitation to support the war economy, also have negative repercussions on the environment. 6. Recovering from current environmental, violence and food security crises, the country needs a coordinated response to counter potential interacting effects. A business-as-usual package recovery is no longer an option. The challenges faced by the country are highly interconnected and failing in addressing them in a simultaneous manner would result in loss of lives, unstable growth and irreversible environmental degradation. Social development and economic growth will require simultaneous action on linking the “security� and “development� agendas. A new governance paradigm for improved service delivery by trusted institutions will require strengthened accountability. In particular, it will require central and local authorities to ensure that public spending and resource mobilization are fair and transparent. Innovative cross-sectoral policies have to simultaneously address synergies between climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss and eroded livelihoods to offer the opportunity to maximize co-benefits and help meet development aspirations for all. 7. By supporting inclusive and participatory local development planning, the integrated landscape management (ILM) approach constitutes a promising, comprehensive, and multi-functional approach to tackle issues presented above by optimizing synergies and reducing negative trade-offs. ILM includes different horizontal and vertical entry points emphasizing the importance of interrelated strategies and agreements on a set of concrete objectives. Common denominators of these entry points include (i) a shared vision among stakeholders about multiple landscape benefits; (ii) a package of practices that achieve multiple objectives; and (iii) key strategies to manage spatial and seasonal interactions across different land uses and users. Sectoral and Institutional Context 8. Mali’s diverse terrestrial and water ecosystems are threatened by the effects of climate change and human actions. The impact of these factors is manifested by (i) the “Sahelization� of the savannas; (ii), the reduction of bourgoutières in the central Niger delta; (iii) the loss of animal and plant varieties of about 60% in the south, 40% in the center, 25% in the north and west; and (iv) and falling crop yields5. Anthropic activities, such as land clearing, logging, bushfire fishing, uncontrolled use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, bad bush practices, can also be most detrimental to biodiversity. 9. Risks associated to climate change impact all sectors and undermine people’s livelihoods. The economic and social costs of extreme weather, such as floods, droughts, and heat waves, are already very high and will increase competition for scares land and water resources. Extreme weather events significantly erode poor people’s assets, especially when occurring in a series, and further undermine their livelihoods in terms of labor productivity, housing, infrastructure, and social networks. Indirect impacts, such as increases in food prices due to climate-related disasters, can also harm poor people who are net buyers of food.6 Inability to deal with these stressors can lead to widespread famine, poverty, population displacement and eventually lead to grievances within society. 5 National report on the state of the environment- 2017 6 IPCC, 2014. Oct 22, 2021 Page 5 of 24 The World Bank Landscape Integrated Development and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) 10. Extreme weather events also impact the price of cereal products. The disruption or even the collapse of functional ecosystems leads to ecosystem goods and services loss. In addition, the disappearance of the biological material which allows human communities to feed, produce and heal themselves, endangers economies, livelihoods, food security and population’s life quality (especially of the most vulnerable categories). Drought conditions have shifted suitable areas for rainfed agriculture and have reduced the growing period’s length in Mali as well as in other Sahelian countries. Drier conditions for rangeland productivity and perennial grasses loss can lead to further land degradation, shrub encroachment, loss of biodiversity, and reduced system resilience. Inset 1: Climate variability in Mali High Temperature: Mali is also one of the most arid countries on the planet and two thirds of the national territory is desert. The mean annual temperature in Mali is 28.3° C with an increase of 0.7 ° C recorded between 1960 and 2015. The mean annual temperature is projected to increase by 1.2 to 3.6 °C by the 2060s, and by 1.8 to 5.9 °C by the 2090s. This will result in increased evapotranspiration which will dry land surfaces and soil. Low rainfall. The very irregular rainfall in space and time varies from less than 200 mm in the North to around 1100 mm in the South. In the Sahel belt, a decline in annual rainfall has been observed since the end of the 1960s, with a decrease of 20 –40% noted between the periods 1931–1960 and 1968–1990. High frequency of extreme weather events . Between 1980 and 2014, Mali experienced 28 major droughts and floods that affected more than seven million people. Mali is classified among the most at-risk countries with a drought severity index of -5. Mali is very vulnerable to the impact of global climate change, ranking 166 out of 181 countries in the 2016 ND-GAIN index for climate vulnerability. Mali is the 9th most vulnerable country and the 43rd least ready country – meaning that it is extremely vulnerable to, yet unready, to address climate change effects. 11. Current sectoral and institutional contexts are characterized by fragmented approaches to development, a lack of synchronized objectives and a plethora of competing frameworks. The problem is not the lack of policies, but rather the lack of institutional coordination, overlapping mandates, conflicting objectives, and contradictory agendas and priorities vying for prominence. Sectoral ministries tend to operate in isolation and to address issues such as climate change, climate-biodiversity interaction and land management in a piece-meal fashion. Institutional, policy and governance responses to address these issues are often reactive through a fragmented and ad hoc approach, while failing to address the root cause. 12. The security crisis has exacerbated the effects of climate change on local livelihoods and on the conditions of access to and use of natural resources. It has a significant impact on rural economies with numerous effects on actors and agricultural investments along the agricultural value chains, including: (i) reduced access to inputs and markets; (ii) expansion of agriculture into marginal areas; (iii) shrinking and scattering of grazing areas; (iv) increased soil degradation as a result of water and wind erosion and desertification due to human and animal factors (such as overgrazing, soil degradation by acidification and removal of woody vegetation for firewood) (v) increased theft of various assets; (v) competition over natural resources; (vi) links between changes in water availability, climate variation and social conflicts and fragility; and (vii) increased prices of inputs and products. All these drivers are worsened by the social contract breakdown, growing tensions between communities, weakened state institutions, poor governance and social inequalities as well as the presence of terrorist groups. 13. Climate change is a major conflict multiplier rather than a direct cause of conflict. It may aggravate and extend the scope of existing conflicts, or trigger underlying and latent conflicts to break out into the open. Four major clusters of conflicts have been categorized by recent studies, namely those which emerge from: (i) water stress (through the availability of, and access to water, and exposure to water-related hazards, such as floods, droughts or illness); (ii) Oct 22, 2021 Page 6 of 24 The World Bank Landscape Integrated Development and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) food insecurity (predicted loss of agricultural land in the region due to climate change could lead to a significant additional decline in food production); (iii) natural disasters (extreme weather events and associated natural disasters occur more frequently and more intensely); and (iv) environmental migration (migrants compete with resident populations for scarce resources, such as land, housing, water, employment, and basic social services). Conflict becomes even more problematic as societal mechanisms and institutions for managing and resolving conflict are breaking down, giving way to different forms of violence. 14. The Covid-19 crisis has also brought severe economic losses and social pain. Covid-19 shocks to economic activity have affected the livelihoods and welfare of households due to multiple challenges. This includes steep declines in labor incomes due to job and wage losses and to non-labor income due to falling international and domestic remittances; disruptions in the functioning of markets leading to prices increases and/or rationing of basic consumption goods and food; and disruptions to service delivery, particularly health and education services. Impacts are likely to be deeper and longer lasting among the poor and vulnerable and will also exacerbate poverty in most inaccessible and marginal areas. 15. In recent years, Mali has developed several development plans and strategies related to sustainable development, economic growth and climate change resilience. The following are particularly relevant for the proposed Project (see Annex 1 for more details): • The Strategic Framework for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Development (CREDD 2019-2023) constitutes the reference document for development policies in force in Mali. Its main objective is to promote inclusive and sustainable development in favor of reducing poverty and inequalities in a united and peaceful Mali. It is articulated around five major axes, including fourth axis which aims to protect the environment and strengthen resilience to climate change. • The National Policy for the Protection of the Environment (PNPE) dated 1998, aims to contribute to the promotion of sustainable development and ensure that the environmental dimension is taken into account in any decision affecting the design, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of development policies, programs and activities. • The Country Strategic Investment Framework (CSIF) for Sustainable Land and Water Management (SLWM), adopted in July 2010, emphasizes key priorities, namely: (i) effective transfer of natural resources management to decentralized entities; (ii) land tenure reviews encouraging better management by actual land users; (iii) improved capacity of the decentralized entities; (iv) well defined and common environmental policies; and (v) effective coordination of land management and environmental programs. • The National Policy/ Strategy and an Action Plan for Climate change, approved in 2011 by the Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development (MEADD), is articulated around seven strategic areas. 7 Mali has also adopted a climate change framework to guide climate and disaster resilience activities. In 2007, Mali put in place a National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) and is currently formulating a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) for medium- and long-term adaptation planning. To strengthen its institutional and policy framework for climate adaptation and mitigation, Mali set up the Environment and Sustainable Development Agency (AEDD) in 2010 for coordinating national environmental policy and supported the development of the National Climate 7 Namely:: (i) the climate change Institutional Framework; (ii) the climate change funding; (iii) the national climate change capacities; (iv) information and awareness raising; (v) monitoring of climate; (vi) the mainstreaming of climate change in sectoral and territorial policies; and (vii) private sector involvement in the climate change agenda. Oct 22, 2021 Page 7 of 24 The World Bank Landscape Integrated Development and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) Change Policy (PNCC), the National Climate Change Strategy (SNCC), and the Action Plan for Implementation (PANC). The Mali Climate Fund has been established in 2013 to combine financing from external, public and private sources. The mission of the Niger River Basin Agency (ABFN) is to safeguard the Niger River, its tributaries and their watersheds, on the territory of the Republic of Mali and the integrated management of its resources. • Key objectives of the new Malian Decentralization framework are aimed to: (i) promote a comprehensive, coherent, and sustainable territorial development of regions; (ii) strengthen state support (improved services to populations); (iii) strengthen inclusive governance of the territory; and (iv) improve the financing of decentralization (sustainable financing of decentralization from domestic resources) • The objective of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) revised in 2021 aims for a greenhouse gas reduction level of 31% for energy, 25% for agriculture, 39% for forestry and land-use change, and 31% for waste. The global analysis integrating the other sectors, indicates that national efforts will achieve a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030.8 • The National Food and Nutritional Security Policy which serves as a single framework for guiding all actions promoting food and nutrition security in the country. • The National Wetlands Policy (2003) with the objectives to: promote the creation of a national database on wetlands; promote the conservation of the biological diversity of wetlands; raise public awareness and strengthen legal and regulatory provisions. • The Program for Integrated Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Niger Basin (PIDACC/NB) which aims to contribute to improving the resilience of populations and ecosystems in the Basin through sustainable management of natural resources by: reducing the silting process of the Niger River; enhancing the adaptability of populations to climate change; and improving natural resource management and integrated ecosystem management, the protection of biodiversity and the restoration of soil fertility. 16. Furthermore, Mali is part of the Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI), launched in 2005 and endorsed in 2007 by the African Union, which aims at combating desertification and improving the populations' living conditions through the "promotion of SLWM as a more ecologically appropriate, socioeconomically sustainable, and holistic approach at the landscape level, to directly benefit local land and water users (farmers, agropastoral, and nomad pastoralists". The GGWI belt in Mali contains several land use systems such as forests, agricultural systems, agro sylvo-pastoral units, rangelands, protected areas, and watersheds, especially those located along the Niger river. Strategically, the implementation of the GGWI will draw upon the above-mentioned strategies with a special emphasis on the protection of landscapes and watersheds. 17. In Mali, the decentralization policy is the result of a major political and strategic governance option . It was built since 1990 around the following core principles: respect for national unity and integrity of the territory; respect for the free administration of local authorities; respect for local specificities in territorial reorganization; democratic and transparent management of local authorities; subsidiarity; progressiveness and concurrency in the transfer of skills and resources; and project management of regional and local development by local authorities. According to the National Decentralization Policy Framework Document (NDPFD, 2015-2024), the gains of decentralization in terms of democracy and basic services have been certain, but they deserve to be capitalized and solidified and the process needs to be restarted. The Region will be the most relevant level to coordinate and balance the economic 8 In this regard, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) could potentially be involved (workshops, capacity building initiatives, etc.). Oct 22, 2021 Page 8 of 24 The World Bank Landscape Integrated Development and Resilience Project - Mali (P177041) development of the territory: Regionalization is considered as a new phase of the decentralization reform aimed at paving the way for the establishment of new relationships between the central government and local authorities based on partnership and regulation. Regionalization is meant to help promote more inclusive development allowing local and regional diversities to express themselves freely while remaining anchored in a larger whole than the State, guarantor of unity and national sovereignty. 18. Despite decades of decentralization reforms, the three levels of local governments ( collectivités territoriales, CTs) are not effectively empowered to assume theirs mandates. Despite its achievements, decentralization is far from having achieved its objectives of entrenching the democratization process and the emergence of a sustainable development approach driven by local actors. Recent changes in the National Budget (Loi des Finances), have significantly improved the predictability of resources allocated to local governments. But many challenges remain for implementing the decentralization agenda, such as:9 • The transfer of competencies and state financial and human resources to territorial institutions face significant bottlenecks. • Deconcentrated technical services are not equipped with enough human and financial resources to support CTs. • The nature of the tutelage or guardianship (tutelle) of line ministries on local institutions is not clear (this is a main factor limiting the degree of their autonomy). • Local authorities are little or not all involved in decision-making concerning planning and implementation, particularly in terms of natural resource management. • The status of local elected officials and staff administrative authorities are not clearly defined. • There are many unresolved disputes related to territorial boundaries between Communes (about the limits of village territories). • The level of mobilization and involvement of local actors (civil society organization/CSOs, Non-governmental organizations/NGOS, producers and users’ groups, small and medium enterprises/ SMEs) in the day-to-day running of CTs remains limited. • Many micro-communes are not financially viable: they are heavily dependent on central government transfers (because income assignments and actual tax revenues collected by them are totally insufficient to meet increasing expenditures associated with the transfer of some competencies). • Citizens are very little informed about the functioning of local authorities and consequently, exercise very little control over their decisions. • Traditional mechanisms related to the access to and use of natural resources have been overtaken by social change, and state land law is inconsistent, often giving rise to contradictory interpretations. • The obligation of transparency and accountability of local authorities remains unfulfilled. 10 Relationship to CPF 19. The proposed Project is well aligned with the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. Project activities will promote poverty reduction, invest in 9 Most of these challenges are identified in the NDPFD. 10 On all these elements, see: the Framework Document on Decentralization; and Unites Cities and