Effective National Implementation of the Access and Benefit Sharing and Traditional Knowledge Regime in Niger in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol To create and apply the enabling conditions for the implementation of Nagoya Protocol on the Access and Benefit Sharing and Traditional Knowledge Regime in Niger. Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency. The socio-economic situation of Niger is not very good despite all the efforts engaged by the authorities for example in adopting relevant policies that address such as development concerns as severe poverty levels and high unemployment. One of these policies mentioned earlier is the 2017-2021 Social and Economic Developmnent Plan of Niger. According to this Plan, Niger has recorded in recent years notable progress in reducing inequalities, but the poverty rate of the population is still very high (45.41%) and is linked to the configuration of the domestic employment market which represents one of the major challenges for the country. The overall unemployment rate has increased from 13% in 2011 to 17% in 2014 (ENISED, 2016). The incidence of unemployment is higher among women than among men, with respective levels of 28.9% and 4.4% in 2014. It is also very acute among young people, with an unemployment rate of 23.7% for the 15-29 age group years (ECVMA 2011). Underemployment affects 68.4% of the working population (ECVMA 2014). It is rife mainly in rural areas, affecting 70.4% of the working population.    This project includes activities that will effectively contribute to the improvement of the socio-economic situation of Niger considering the various categories of actors who will directly or indirectly benefit from the project achievements. Firstly, legally grounded ABS transactions in the form of e.g., bioprospecting activities and ethnobotanical studies will create short term employment for local communities. This can be framed as direct benefit in terms of compensation to local communities for their manpower and support as local guides. These kinds of field-based activities provide opportunities for negotiating benefit sharing agreements with the custodians of the aTK. The model MAT that will be produced by this project will henceforth be used in such negotiations in which, local communities will be comfortable to engage based on the training received during the project. In the same vein, bioprospecting activities and ethnobotanical studies carried out according to the established and adopted ABS rules will employ national research assistants who will not just earn monetary benefits but will enhance their knowledge in conservation sciences such as in plant systematics. The involvement of local scientist will equally enhance their biotechnological research skills and knowledge that can be applied in the exploration of the actual or potential value (medicinal, food and beverages, cosmetic, etc.) of the GRs. Be they financial or non-financial benefits in the form enhanced conservation knowledge earned by national stakeholders through this project, these benefits are all directly relevant to and are supportive of the global long-term impact stated in the ToC notably: conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, embedded GRs and the preservation of traditional knowledge for the realization of the SDGs. In addition, by enhancing biotechnological research skills and knowledge of national research scientists in view to a better understanding of the actual or potential value of GRs, this project essentially lays the foundation for future economic returns through commercial exploitation of the GRs and aTK at the national level which will in turn lead to the transformation of the livelihoods of Nigeriens.    Furthermore the project will invest in activities that address the valorization of GRs and the development of business and economic opportunities through value chain development. This valorization dimension will involve national academic and research institutions such as the universities and researchers working on the promotion of GRs with high economic potentials. The valorization component of this project will equally involve ongoing projects that have provided co-financing. As mentioned above under the projects’ baseline, some of the ongoing projects such as the one dealing with the date palm and the livestock support program on fodder species offer the opportunities for valorization of biodiversity and the trialing of the ABS tools such as PIC and MAT models. The valorization dimension will also involve the private sector, which is reflected through the involvement of national entrepreneurs whose principal business operations center around the commercial exploitation of special forest products and non-timber forest products, and national associations of traditional doctors with due consideration of gender. These groups of actors will be connected to the scientific biodiscovery research community and will gain insight on approaches to improve products safety which will evidently enhance their marketability at wider scale. It is therefore the case that, the valorization endeavors that are planned in this project will lead to employment creation through a better structuring of the sector of traditional medicine. In particular, the capacity building activities on valorization and business creation will be aiming to instill the business acumen in researcher scientists who can henceforth envisage the creation of spin off entities which will take over the ‘commercial development’ aspect of their research. The long-term effects of the valorization dimension of this project entails the production of a panoply of products (cosmetics, agricultural, medicinal, food etc.) for the domestic markets and potentially regional and the international markets. The supply of such biodiversity-based products in the local markets has the potential to the living standards of Nigerien populations via their access to those products.    By improving the governance of access to GRs and aTK and establishing legal certainty and clarity, the prospective NP compliant ABS regulatory framework will incentivize actors interested in the Nigerien GRs to invest in access and bioprospecting activities and GRs valorization projects. The prospective ABS regulatory framework will therefore create business opportunities for the GRs of Niger, ensuring commercialisation at affordable prices and therefore improving the socioeconomic standards of Nigerien populations.