jpinsert_7.qxd 3/9/06 12:17 PM Page 1 37675 GEF Global Action on Sustainable Land Management GEF'S COUNTRY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM FOR SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT The GEF believes that partnerships are key to deal- has instituted the Country Partnership Program ing with land degradation issues. These partner- for Sustainable Land Management (CPP). This ships can involve a broad range of government program is a partnership among a country (its and nongovernmental stakeholders--including public and private sectors, and civil society), the private research institutions, bilateral and multilat- GEF and its implementing agencies, and multi- eral development agencies, and foundations. By national and bilateral development organiza- strengthening existing partnerships or creating tions. The CPP comprises a package of new ones, countries can provide effective mecha- interventions to address land degradation, nisms to achieve sustainable land management. including policy, regulatory and institutional Such partnership arrangements can help mobilize reforms, capacity building, and investments. Its funds, improve coordination, tackle intersectoral priorities are consistent with national action pro- tradeoffs, provide technical resources, and help grams on desertification, production sector pro- leverage in-country policies and institutional grams, and poverty reduction strategies. reforms in support of sustainable land manage- ment programs. The CPP will enable developing countries to: To help countries address land degradation in a Mainstream land management issues, includ- comprehensive and integrated manner, the GEF ing policy reforms, into their sustainable development priorities Adopt integrated and sustainable land man- agement practices as part of their develop- ment programs Promote synergies across the environment and other sectors of the economy Enhance predictability in financial resources, both from the GEF and cofinancing sources Reduce transaction costs by streamlining and harmonizing project cycle procedures Bank orld W/ Strengthen the enabling environment for Esikuri Enos sustainable land management Production Landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa jpinsert_7.qxd 3/9/06 12:17 PM Page 2 Scale up viable traditional land management measured in terms of health, stability, and con- practices as well as innovative and cost-effec- nectivity, and their ecosystem services and global tive practices. environmental benefits. With approximately 70 percent of Namibia's population directly depend- Sustainable land management requires a holistic ent on subsistence agriculture and livestock hus- approach in which different resource users agree bandry, land degradation also poses an acute on common objectives to maintain the ecological challenge to livelihoods. integrity of the land. Country partnerships offer the best vehicle for achieving sustainable land The Government of Namibia has identified land management for several reasons. First, sustain- degradation as a serious problem that demands able land management requires a coordinated remedial intervention. Although the government approach with a longer time frame than most is fully committed to combating land degrada- conventional projects, which rely on three- to tion, insufficient capacity at systemic, institu- five-year implementation cycles. Second, imple- tional, and individual levels, and inadequate mentation of such a long-term program requires knowledge and technology dissemmination are sizeable commitments of resources for upfront constraining the effectiveness of interventions costs. Third, individual countries must design and and the sustainability of outcomes. The Namibia pursue sustainable land management programs CPP is designed to address these challenges. suitable to their specific requirements without being compelled to adjust to the time tables of The CPP seeks to build and sustain capacity at sys- others, such as donors, a factor that has con- temic, institutional, and individual levels, ensuring tributed to project failure in the past. cross-sectoral and demand-driven coordination and implementation of sustainable land manage- CPPs are currently being piloted in Namibia, Cuba, ment activities and to identify cost-effective, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, and other countries. innovative, and appropriate SLM methods that integrate environmental, social, and economic CASE STUDY: NAMIBIA CPP objectives. A partnership of five government min- As the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, istries, the nongovernmental community, the GEF, Namibia increasingly experiences land degrada- United Nations Development Programme, World tion problems across the country. Land degrada- Bank, United Nations Environment Programme, tion is undermining dryland ecosystems, and donor community is implementing the CPP. FOR MORE INFORMATION Global Environment Facility 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 USA Tel: 202-473-0508 Fax: 202-522-3240 www.theGEF.org February 2006