Switzerland hosts Sahel development conference

An international conference got underway in Switzerland Wednesday to chart the future course for international aid in the Sahel region.

An international conference got underway in Switzerland Wednesday to chart the future course for international aid in the Sahel region.

About 100 government and development agency representatives are meeting in the town of Yverdon-les-Bains for a three-day conference called by the Swiss Agency for Development and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The conference will review current aid projects for countries in the region, which includes Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Cape Verde.

Ministers and NGO delegates will also discuss the successes and failures in projects involving international aid agencies as well as local rural organisations.

Switzerland has taken an active interest in the region and heads an OECD committee developing support projects for the Sahel states.

Much of the Swiss aid goes toward boosting food production and productivity in the agriculture, livestock and forestry sectors. Small business development as well as education and health care are other focus areas for Swiss aid.

Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad are the main priority regions for Swiss government aid.

Some of the problems faced there are reminiscent of other West African countries. The rapid population growth in the Sahel region has for instance led to food shortages.

In March, the United Nations World Food Programme launched an emergency $23 million food aid programme in the Sahel region.

The six-month operation provides 40,000 metric tons of emergency food aid to more than 1 million people living in areas affected by drought and several consecutive below-average harvests.