Halting Land Degradation by Scaling-up Proven and Cost-Effective Land Management Practices

Funded by European Union

Friday 6 September 2019 • 08:00 – 10:00 • MET-07

Desertification affects approximately 45% of the African continent, indicating an urgent need for action. Failure to act on this threat has serious negative impacts on the GDPs and sustainable development opportunities. Restoration of ecosystems through agroforestry and other proven land use practices offers multiple returns in terms of ecosystem services for human well-being, food availability, soil fertility, carbon sequestration capacity, wood production, groundwater recharge and much more. Despite past and on-going efforts to restore degraded lands to meet the Bonn and AFR100 challenges, there is not, however, a comprehensive database available for systematically assessing the benefits and costs of ecosystem restoration through agroforestry and other activities. The evidence for how scaling can be successfully done while contributing to social and economic benefits in addition to the known ecological benefits is also scarce.

The Project, ‘Reversing Land Degradation in Africa by scaling-up EverGreen Agriculture’ aims at improving livelihoods, food security and climate change resilience by restoring ecosystem services in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and Somalia. The action is carried out jointly by the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) alongside key development partners. It is co-financed by the European Commission and by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

This side event presents evidence for scaling cost effective ecosystem restoration measures such as Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), tree planting, and soil and water conservation techniques. It will also present evidence on how sustainable tree-based value chains can provide economic benefits and incentives for local communities. Furthermore, the role of behavior change at both community and policy levels to inform investments will be presented.

The event is co-hosted by The Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative and World Agroforestry (ICRAF).

Friday 6 September 2019 • 08:00 – 10:00 • MET-07

Halting Land Degradation by Scaling-up Proven and Cost-Effective Land Management Practices

Moderator: Richard Thomas, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Area (ICARDA), ELD Scientific Coordinator

Opening Remarks:

Javed Rizvi - World Agroforestry Regional Representative, South Asia Juliane Wiesenhuetter - Head of sector project at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbHEuropean Delegation

Presentations:

Susan Chomba (World Agroforestry) - Regreening Africa: What does it take to scale up land restoration activities to millions of hectares?Mark Schauer (ELD) - Introduction into the ELD component of the project – Economic benefits of the agroforestry approach. Do we have the right measures of costs and benefits? A critical look and way forward on the costs and benefits of ecosystem restoration.Leigh Winowiecki (World Agroforestry) - Monitoring land restoration activities using systematic field surveys and remote sensingLindsay Stringer (University of Leeds) - Reaching out to decision makers in the science/policy interface

Panelists:

Martin Dallimer - University of Leeds, ELD Co-Study Leader Somalia and KenyaLucy Nganga - Director, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Kenya Bakundukize Dismas - Director of Forestry Management Unit, Rwanda Natural Resources Authority Baidy Ba, Director - Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Senegal