Development in general,
and that of the emerging countries in particular, requires the mobilization and
better management of natural resources, of which water is an essential element,
especially groundwater. This resource is recognized as a factor of development
and to ensure the control of it for the benefit of development, it is necessary
to know it well and to manage it well taking into account the needs of the various
sectors.
In Benin, the
problem of the water sector is characterized by 3 main factors: the expansion
of drinking water supply for the population, a large part of which will rely on
groundwater; activities and agro-pastoral developments and growing industrial
needs means an increase in water requirements, sometimes on restricted areas
with the advent of industrial zones; the impacts of climate change.
These different
uses of water rely mostly on the exploitation of groundwater, which is
increasingly solicited for implementing projects in several development sectors
as part of the Government Action Program. The impacts of groundwater
mobilization by these projects on the quantity and quality of the resource are
still quite unknown, which could compromise its sustainable use. In addition, knowledge
of the resource (location, level of sustainability), but also the regulation of
its use, and the institutional framework that must guarantee sustainable
management remain to be defined. It is, therefore, necessary to strengthen the
institutional and regulatory framework for water knowledge and management, on
the one hand, and on the other, to strengthen knowledge and analysis of the
resource and its sustainability to enable decision-makers to establish a
strategy and management framework based on data validated by the Beninese
scientific community. Such an approach
is essential to sustain current and future investments in several key
development sectors, including water and agriculture.
The overall objective of the mission is to assess the current
exploitation of the water resource and to propose an institutional framework
and tools for the sustainable management of groundwater in Benin.