National Policy to Support Landscape Managementin Africa

Joseph Tanui, World Agroforestry CentreTuesday, July 1, 2014World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi

Policy action to support ILM in Africa

• National-level programs– Ethiopia’s community-based watershed

development program– Rwanda’s Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative– Burkina Faso’s Sahel Lowland Integrated

Ecosystem Management Initiative• Coordinating across national boundaries– Great Green Wall Initiative– Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area

Policy action to support ILM in Africa

• Regional level policy coordination– TerrAfrica coordination on sustainable land

management– African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN)– Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development

Program (CAADP)– Frameworks that integrate climate change planning into

agricultural priorities (UNEP’s Ecosystem-based Adaptation program, climate-smart agriculture)

– Gaborone Declaration

Policy conditions that support ILM in Africa

• Sub-national and national policies, laws, and regulations

• Stakeholder engagement and cooperation• Knowledge and technical capacities and

monitoring and evaluation• Market-based incentive mechanisms • Supportive public investments in ‘green’

infrastructure

Consensus Actions

• Improve alignment of sectoral policies and strategies at local and national levels

• Develop stronger linkages been rural and urban policy and planning

• Use ILM strategies to meet multiple national goals in international policy processes

• Expand and strengthen integrated landscape initiatives• Accelerate policy support for agricultural production

systems that have co-benefits for ecosystems• Build capacity for policy research

Springboards for action

• New AU/Nepad Flagship program can provide a platform for policy learning and innovation

• Build on Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Committees supported by TerrAfrica

• Dialogues between landscape leaders and policymakers and policy study tours

• Take advantage of inter-ministerial meetings to organize and facilitate cross-sectoral dialogue

• Regional policy processes (e.g. NEPAD, SADC, ECOWAS, and COMESA) as leaders in policy development and as platforms to document and share experiences