This World Bank investment is a hydroelectric project. It consists of the Adjarala dam, a hydropower plant, transmission line, and other necessary infrastructure such as roads, a bridge, and repositioning of a preexisting transmission line at Mome Hagou. The dam will be 3,700 meters long and 48 meters high, while the hydropower station will have three 49-megawatt units.

The project will be located on the Mono River, which borders Togo and Benin, approximately 100 km downstream of the Nangbeto dam in Togo.

This project is part of the Programme for Infrastructure Development In Africa (PIDA)

RISK CATEGORIZATION: A

This project has been placed under Category A because, based on a full assessment, it will invest in new physical infrastructure with significant environmental impacts.

APPLICABLE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS:

• Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01
• Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04
• Forests OP/BP 4.36
• Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11
• Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12
• Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37
• Projects on International Waterways OP/BP 7.50

ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS ASSESSMENT

Right to Culture

Since hydroelectric dams often involve involuntary relocation, large populations may have to be moved from their homelands. This could involve significant impacts to local culture. For instance, populations may face losing important cultural ties to their land. Also, due to loss of agricultural areas, communities may have to find new means of making a living, which may severely impact their culture. Cultural artifacts could also be present on the land that is to be flooded. This project triggers the Bank's physical cultural resources safeguard, meaning that the Bank anticipates that it could have a significant impact on the cultural resources of the region. It is important that the implementing agency ensure that this does not occur or that all cultural artifacts be recovered prior to moving forward with the project.

Some questions community members and local NGOs should consider asking:

• Do you have reasons to believe the planned investment project could affect the cultural resources of your community?
• Do you have reasons to believe that your ability to participate in cultural life could change as a result of the planned investment project?
• Does this project have a chance-finds procedure in case cultural artifacts are encountered during operations?

Right to Food

Because they flood large areas of land, dams can result in a large loss of agricultural land. They may also reduce the flow of water to areas downstream, resulting in a lack of water for agriculture. Hydroelectric dams can also destroy fish and other aquatic species. The World Bank report states that the design of the project "will contribute to the mitigation of the floods downstream". However, it does not discuss what the extent or nature of these floods will be, leaving a great deal of uncertainty about the full impact of the project. In Benin about half of the population relies on subsistence farming as their main source of food and income, making these impacts from the Adjarala project potentially severe. In Togo, 47 percent of the rural population is food insecure, while 37 percent are at risk of becoming food insecure. Therefore, any loss to local food supply could potentially be very severe. Communities that rely on the Mono River for food supplies may also be adversely impacted.

Some questions community members and local NGOs should consider asking:

• Have you been informed of any potential changes that could affect your access to food?
• Do you have reasons to believe that your access to the land where you grow food, hunt for food or fish could change once the investment project begins?
• Are there mechanisms through which you can file a complaint and/or obtain a remedy when your right to food has been affected?

Right to Housing and Property

The World Bank report states that the design of the project "will contribute to the mitigation of the floods downstream". However, it does not discuss what these flooding impacts will be. Because they flood large areas of land, dams can result in the displacement of populations. In fact, the Communaute Electrique du Benin (CEB) has, in the past, displaced people for dam projects without helping them to find new housing despite promising they would. When the Nangbeto Dam was constructed, there was no resettlement plan and 10,600 individuals were displaced, many without compensation. The World Bank's report mentions that there is a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP). However, it is important that local communities ensure that this RAP is favorable, fully covering compensation for loss of land and providing for new housing that is at least of equal quality to the homes being lost.

Some questions community members and local NGOs should consider asking:

• Have you been informed of any potential changes that could affect your access to adequate housing?
• Do you have reasons to believe that your access to adequate housing could change once the investment project begins?
• Are there mechanisms through which you can file a complaint and/or obtain a remedy when your right to adequate housing has been affected?
• Are there human settlements adversely affected by the presence of this project?
• Have there been any complaints of forced evictions in the context of this investment project?
• Will households resettled for this project actually be compensated properly, and will communities move voluntarily?
• Will the resettlement area provide access to similar sources of livelihood as previous locations?
• How will appropriate compensation for lost trees, facilities and other assets be determined?

Right to Water

Hydroelectric dams have been known to deplete the quality of drinking water both upstream and downstream from the project. Flooding resulting from dams can lead to the buildup of hydrogen sulfides from decomposing vegetation or to siltation, both of which affect water quality. In addition, dams can limit the flow of water downstream from the project, thereby depriving those downstream communities of water.

Some questions community members and local NGOs should consider asking:

• Do you have access to water that is safe, affordable and available in sufficient quantity?
• Have you been informed of any potential changes that could affect your access to water?
• Do you have reasons to believe that your access to water could change as a result of the planned investment project?
• Are there mechanisms through which you can file a complaint and/or obtain a remedy when your right to water has been affected?
• Where will wastewater and other effluent be released and what impact is this likely to have on the local environment and water supply?
• Does the company and/or industrial park have adequate safeguards in place to prevent stormwater drainage from carrying waste products into nearby rivers?

Right to a Healthy Environment

Dams can create very unhealthy environments by creating new ecosystems of standing water that attract disease-carrying insects. Dams have also resulted in increases in malaria, hepatitis, schistomiasis, and river blindness. Hydroelectric dams may additionally lead to a loss of wildlife and plants, leading to a less vibrant environment.

Some questions community members and local NGOs should consider asking:

• What means do you have to seek redress if the public health and/or environmental impact of the proposed operations become a problem for local communities and/or the local ecosystem?
• Is your water quality likely to be affected by processing operations?
• Do those implementing the project have a plan in place for preventing increases in disease or for providing health care should diseases proliferate?

The total cost of the Adjarala Hydroelectric Project is USD $435 million. The World Bank will be financing USD $120 million. The remainder of the cost will be funded by Togo and Benin, unidentified bilateral agencies, and unidentified foreign multilateral institutions.

Communaute Electrique du Benin (CEB)
Mr. Djibril Latifou, Directeur Genereral
Tel: (228) 2216132
Email: dg@cebnet.org

CONSULTATION PROCESS:
There is no information provided in the World Bank documentation about a consultation process.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. You can learn more about the Inspection Panel and how to file a complaint at: http://ewebapps.worldbank.org/apps/ip/Pages/Home.aspx.