Burkina Faso and Niger face rapid population growth, climate change, armed insecurity and conflicts over resources. In response, the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) implemented the Resilience and Economic Grown in the Sahel – Enhanced Resilience (REGIS-ER) project. This saw the development of 17 local conventions at the commune (rural district) level to assure the sustainable use of natural resources, strengthen responsive decentralised governance, and reinforce citizens’ rights and responsibilities.

These conventions have had considerable success in improving natural resource management, increasing farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR) on 5% of farmland and reducing violent conflicts by 74% in targeted communes. They were less successful, however, in managing forests, pastures and ponds far from the villages.