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The Ouémé Basin Climate-Resilience Initiative (OCRI) is a six-year project in Benin designed to reduce climate vulnerability for 330,000 direct beneficiaries and 6 million indirect beneficiaries. The initiative focuses on the Upper and Middle Ouémé Basin, implementing a mix of hard infrastructure (micro-dams, water harvesting) and soft measures (climate-resilient agriculture, agroforestry) across 95,000 hectares. It targets key value chains including maize, cashew, shea, and mango to diversify income and reduce poverty. The project also establishes a multi-stakeholder platform to institutionalize integrated basin management and strengthens the financial capacity of the Fonds National pour l’Environnement (FNEC) to provide long-term climate finance.

The assessment identifies four primary livelihood strategies in the Nariarlé watershed: rainfed agriculture, irrigated gardening, pastoralism, and fishing. Rainfed agriculture is the most dominant activity, covering 60-70% of the watershed, but suffers from low yields and high climatic risk. Irrigated gardening provides higher financial returns, with up to 90% of harvests sold, though it faces challenges from dam siltation and pesticide pollution. Pastoralism serves as a critical financial safety net, though grazing lands are being reduced by the expansion of Ouagadougou and agri-business. Fishing is a minor activity involving less than 3% of the population, threatened by invasive plants and non-compliant fishing nets.