| The Government of Niger and the High Commission for the Improvement of the Niger River Valley (HCAVN) are constructing a $785 million dam on the Niger River, funded by a number of international actors including the World Bank, the French development Agency, and the Islamic Development Bank. The Kandadji Ecosystems Regeneration and Niger Valley Development Programme, known as Kandadji, aims to provide 130 megawatts of nationally-produced electricity to Niger´s grid, improve conditions for irrigated rice production in the banks of the Niger, and regulate the course of the Niger River. Proclaimed as a resilience-building solution to climate change hazards such as floods and drought, the project has been in development since the colonial period and more recently as part of campaign speeches based on a strong desire for electricity independence. This two-pronged objective was best described by the World Bank’s Vice President for Africa, Makhtar Diop - the Kandadji project is “a transformational development project that will deliver significantly more opportunity to communities, more food, water, and electricity, and less poverty in the poorest region of Africa." Diop´s hopeful statement stems from a discourse of climate resilience, which paints politically-difficult development schemes in the colors and terminologies of climate change adaptation. Activists at the national and international scales have decried the dam project as a mistake, based on the negative aspects of the project including the displacement of 30 to 60 thousand individuals (some of which have taken the Government of Niger to court demanding higher compensation but their case was denied), corruption and mismanagement by Nigerien government actors, and the high levels of uncertainty about the dam´s effectiveness as well as numerous more viable and cost effective alternative activities that would better strengthen agricultural activities, such as small scale irrigation. See more The dam is being constructed in a valley where local villagers practice gardening and dryland farming and sits about 180 kilometers north of Niger´s capital Niamey at the base of a rocky hill. The dam will displace an estimated 38 000 to 60 000 people living in the vicinity. The World Bank has orchestrated a resettlement package including: new housing, access to irrigation and shared development funding from the electricity production. Resettlement was met with initial enthusiasm in 2012 by some of the 5500 persons moving into the new settlements. However, resident´s contentment quickly faded as they realized that the new locations lack viable water resources and the irrigation systems are not perceived as viable as the former modes of production. Moreover, land tenure has not yet been determined for resettled individuals. Kandadji´s elaborate irrigation systems demand high levels of investment including up to 500 USD in fertilizer, seeds, and water fees for yearly production, which may require some to obtain loans or will systematically exclude some producers without measures for supporting the transition. Thus while the project appears to provide small holders with a mechanism of defense against climate hazards, it more effectively serves the development of the state´s electricity needs while excluding small holders and evicting them from their property. Moreover, the compensation schemes set up by the World Bank have been decired as insufficient, and the Bank itself requested that the number of households affected be limited. These discrepancies in planning and implementation have also been present in the construction of other large-scale dams in Africa, such as the Akossombo project in Ghana. As stated by policy director Josh Klemm of Rivers International on the project´s website, ¨It’s time for the World Bank to own up to its mistakes and cancel its support for the failed Kandadji scheme, and work with the government to identify real solutions to Niger’s persistent energy and food security challenges.¨ (See less) |