GCA to Strengthen Rural Climate Resilience in Mauritania through Water Access
N
ouakchott / Rotterdam, 20 May 2025 – The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have announced a strategic collaboration through the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) to improve water security and climate resilience for vulnerable rural communities across Mauritania.
The $20.4 million investment project, Strengthening Mauritania’s Rural Resilience through the Management and Development of Water Resources (RRR-Water) will enhance sustainable water access for domestic, productive, and ecosystem purposes across the Brakna, Adrar and Tagant regions—some of the most climate-vulnerable areas in the country.
The project represents a significant milestone in advancing integrated water resource management in the increasingly vulnerable Sahel region and is expected to directly benefit over 450,000 people—primarily women and youth.
As technical partner, GCA is supporting the integration of climate adaptation measures into the project’s design and implementation through a package of targeted assistance including in-depth climate risk assessments, capacity building, and the development of additional climate finance proposals. These efforts aim to ensure that rural water systems and governance structures are equipped to withstand future droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures.
Mauritania faces acute water insecurity due to its arid climate, rising temperatures and the over-extraction of groundwater. Only 78% of the population has access to drinking water, with significant disparities between rural and urban areas. Pastoral communities—many of whom rely on transboundary transhumance, the seasonal movement of livestock across borders with Mali and Senegal in search of water and grazing land—are particularly vulnerable, as diminishing resources along these traditional routes fuel competition and increase the risk of conflict.
The RRR-Water project tackles these challenges through four components: improving access to water for households, livestock and oasis farming; reducing pollution and health risks; enhancing sanitation infrastructure in public facilities; and strengthening governance and institutional planning. GCA’s climate adaptation support will help ensure that these investments are resilient, inclusive, and effective in the face of escalating climate pressures.
Professor Patrick V. Verkooijen, President and CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation, welcomed the partnership: “This initiative exemplifies how adaptation can deliver development with resilience. By embedding climate risk assessments into water infrastructure design, supporting locally tailored nature-based solutions and building institutional capacity, we are not only securing water for today—we are investing in Mauritania’s stability, livelihoods and long-term prosperity. In a fragile region increasingly defined by climate extremes, this project offers a model for how adaptation can prevent a crisis before it strikes.”
By addressing critical adaptation gaps—such as the lack of data on groundwater, weak climate governance, and limited access to climate finance—the project will generate insights for scaling rural water resilience efforts across the Sahel and beyond.
The collaboration aligns with AfDB’s Strategy to Address Fragility and Build Resilience in Africa (2022–2026) and the Climate Change and Green Growth Framework (2021–2025). It also builds on GCA’s growing adaptation support across the Sahel and Horn of Africa, including through the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) and the World Bank’s DREVE and Horn of Africa Groundwater for Resilience projects.
