14 March 2012: A study on six large dams in West Africa launched by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) shows that securing access to local development benefits can be achieved by involving communities in the planning and construction of dams.

The study, titled “Sharing the water, sharing the benefits: Lessons from six large dams in West Africa,” was launched at the sixth World Water Forum in Marseille, France. It received financial support of the Global Water Initiative (GWI) and was edited by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), IIED and the Institut de Recherches et d’Applications des Méthodes de Développement (IRAM).

The study examines six dams built in Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso, and how they impacted local people’s lives and development opportunities. It features sections on: understanding local consequences of dams in order to minimize negative impacts and avoid conflicts; encouraging local benefits from dams; improving local stakeholder involvement; and sharing the benefits and reducing conflicts.

The study identifies the reasons why local people were often dissatisfied with the construction of the dam, including: insufficient and poorly planned compensation for losses suffered due to the construction, filling and operating of the dam; inadequacy of the feasibility studies conducted to determine the dams’ effects on people, infrastructure and economic activities; and absence of resource management structures or rules.

In order to address these challenges, the authors recommend involving local people in the discussions related to construction of the dam, including on the investment, compensation and relocation issues. [IUCN Press Release] [Publication: Sharing the Water Sharing the Benefits: Lessons from six large dams in West Africa]