(Togo First) - Farmers and fishermen in Lacs Prefecture in southern Togo received equipment support last week under a World Bank-backed coastal resilience project. The distribution took place in Aného on Dec. 5.
The initiative, funded by the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project (WACA ResIP), targets people whose livelihoods are directly exposed to coastal erosion and aims to strengthen their production capacity.
The distribution included 58 outboard motors, 378 life jackets and 40 solar-powered irrigation kits. The irrigation systems are meant to improve water access for vegetable farms amid increasing climate variability. For fishermen, the motors are intended to help reach more productive fishing areas, while the life jackets enhance safety at sea.
Figures presented at the ceremony showed 214 beneficiaries, including 40 vegetable farmers and 174 fishermen from the Lacs 1 and Lacs 3 municipalities. The distribution is part of a broader set of ongoing interventions in the prefecture, including infrastructure works, equipment purchases and improvements in production and marketing practices.
Local authorities say the support will help stabilize household incomes, reduce economic losses caused by climate shocks and sustain farming and fishing activities in one of Togo’s most vulnerable coastal zones.
Funded by the World Bank, WACA ResIP aims to strengthen the economic and social resilience of coastal communities. In addition to social and community projects, the program focuses on coastal protection works, including ongoing works on the Gbodjomé-Goumoukopé section at a cost of 33 billion CFA francs.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi