Senegal River Valley Development and Resilience Project

Adaptation Need

Senegal and Mauritania are two of the poorest countries in the world, with 38% and 28% of the population respectively living in severe multidimensional poverty. They share the SRV – a region exhibiting some of the most extreme climate variability globally, with rising temperature, increasingly erratic rainfall, droughts, floods, sea level rise, salinization of soils and waters, encroaching desertification, and degradation of arable land. These changes in an economy centered on traditional agriculture and livestock production are driving migration to urban areas. Malnutrition, epidemics, environmental shocks, and forced displacement are on the rise. Cities in the Valley are particularly vulnerable to flash floods, caused by heavy rain or fluvial inundation, lack of efficient drainage systems, uncontrolled urban sprawl, and the occupation of depressions and wetlands.

GCA’s Added Value

GCA is supporting the integration of Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) principles into the Project Operational Manual, alongside the development of a Community Sub-Project Manual. These efforts aim to facilitate meaningful engagement between vulnerable communities and local leadership in mapping climate risks, unpacking drivers of natural resource conflicts, and co-identifying and prioritizing adaptation solutions. In parallel, GCA is conducting political and institutional analyses to uncover barriers and entry points for reform. It is also supporting the design and rollout of community-led Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) methodologies and frameworks to track progress in building climate resilience and to reinforce planning processes at both local government and regional levels.