Community Innovations in Sustainable Land Management

Lessons from the field in Africa

Maxwell Mudhara, Saa Dittoh, Mohamed Sessay, William Critchley, Sabina Di Prima

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780367029708
• eBook ISBN: 9781317278702
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Technology & Engineering

It is increasingly recognized that land can be managed most sustainably through involving local communities. This book highlights the potential of a new methodology of uncovering and stimulating community initiatives in sustainable land management in Africa.

Analyses of four contrasting African countries (Ghana, Morocco, South Africa and Uganda) show that as communities directly face the challenges of land degradation, they are likely to develop initiatives themselves in terms of sustainable land management. These initiatives (or 'innovations') may be more appropriate and sustainable than those emanating from research stations located far from the communities. The book describes the rationale of the approach used, the set of steps followed, how the project managed to engage the communities to understand the importance of the activities they were undertaking, and how they were stimulated to improve and extend their initiatives and innovativeness.

Examples covered include soil fertility, community forestry, afforestation, water, invasive species and grazing land management. Central to the book is the way communities, and scientists, interacted between the four countries and learnt from each other. The book also shows how the initiatives were outscaled locally.

1
Stimulating community initiatives in sustainable land management

An introduction

William Critchley, Maxwell Mudhara and Mohamed F. Sessay

Introduction

Stimulating Community Initiatives in Sustainable Land Management (SCI-SLM) is a project that focuses on identifying innovative forms of land management amongst communities in four countries in Africa: Ghana, Morocco, South Africa and Uganda. The premise of the project is that there are local community innovations succeeding in combating desertification where formal research recommendations have often failed. The common denominator is initiatives, regarding land, water or plant resources, which have emanated from the communities themselves, demonstrating their capacity to come up with solutions to problems of land degradation internally. SCI-SLM endeavours to help add value to these initiatives – through research partnerships – as well as stimulating these communities to go forward with their efforts. SCI-SLM is documenting the initiatives and encouraging other communities to learn from these focal points through, amongst other ways, cross-visits. Thus cross-learning between communities – and between countries – is a key element. Establishing flow lines of communication about successful initiatives and ‘innovativeness’ is a central issue. At a higher level, SCI-SLM seeks to institutionalise the concept and mechanisms of such an approach, in relevant government ministries and other national organisations.

The budget is modest: US $2m. Half is from the Global Environment Facility, the remainder is co-finance from participating institutions. SCI-SLM falls under the United Nations Environment Programme as the GEF implementing agency. UNEP is centrally situated in Nairobi, Kenya. The project is coordinated and executed by the Centre for Environment and Development (CEAD) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, which also manages the South African country programme. The other three country programmes are managed in Ghana by the University of Development Studies in Tamale, in Morocco by Targa-Aide (a non-governmental organisation – NGO – with links to the University of Hassan II) and in Uganda by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. The Centre for Development Cooperation of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam provides technical assistance as the ‘advisory group’ or ‘TAG’. This support is especially targeted at methodology and its development. SCI-SLM is supported and guided by a Steering Committee that meets every year.

SCI-SLM as a Global Environment Facility project – the implications

SCI-SLM was targeted at the GEF because of its dedicated focus on combating land degradation through sustainable land management. The GEF’s land degradation focal area (LDFA) came into being around the time of project formulation and, with SCI-SLM’s emphasis on upscaling, this made a perfect match with GEF-LDFA. The project document states:

The project fits with the new GEF-4 land degradation focal area strategy and will contribute to its strategic objective 2 (SO2) on ‘upscaling of sustainable land management investments that generate mutual benefits for the global environment and local livelihoods’. The project will contribute to improving and sustaining the economic well-being of people and the preservation and/or restoration of ecosystem functions and services under different socio-economic conditions. SCI-SLM further emphasises partnerships with small farmers – as part of communities – to identify and demonstrate, under field conditions, environmentally friendly and socio-economically viable land management practices that will enhance soil fertility and make more effective use of water. The activities of the project will primarily be carried out by recipient country research institutions and will be up-scaled within the four pilot countries. The project will also support the LDFA’s strategic programme no. 1 ‘Supporting Sustainable Agriculture and Rangeland Management’ and LDFA’s strategic programme no. 3 ‘Investing in New and Innovative Approaches to SLM’.

GEF finance under the LDFA requires that, alongside immediate local benefits of improved productivity, global environmental benefits (GEBs) are delivered, especially carbon sequestered in the land – in the soil and in living vegetation – through sustainable land management. Fortunately sustainable land management automatically ensures the generation of GEBs alongside local benefits: good SLM leads to a build-up in soil organic matter and greater primary productivity. Thus carbon is captured in the land, securing better and more stable yields: production systems are made more resilient. Simultaneously carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is reduced.

What differentiates SCI-SLM from most other projects in GEF’s land degradation focal area is its focus on local innovation – but simultaneously the regional dimension. The project that is most closely related to SCI-SLM in this respect is the Kagera-Transboundary Agro-ecosystem Management Project (Kagera-TAMP), which has FAO as its implementing and executing agency. Covering the four countries of Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, Kagera-TAMP has a similar history to SCI-SLM in that it took several years before final approval, as a result of the reorganisation of GEF and its funding procedures (see section below). However Kagera-TAMP differs from SCI-SLM in that the four countries share a river basin (the Kagera) and there are expected to be synergies generated as a result of actions in adjacent countries. The regional dimension of SCI-SLM is quite different. Here the rationale for spanning four countries was that lessons could be shared between nations in North, South, East and West Africa. The suitability of the approach in these different parts of Africa would, it was proposed, give a good indication of its applicability across various environments within Africa.

A brief timeline of SCI-SLM

Stimulating Community Initiatives in Sustainable Land Management was one of a number of projects whose approval – and start-up – was delayed considerably by a reorganisation of the Global Environment Facility in the first decade of this century. First conceived in 2002, the proposed project fell into the GEF pipeline in 2003, and a project preparation facility was made available to develop the project document. A series of ‘mobile workshops’ were conceived – to bring together a small group in each country – to tour various potential locations and develop the project partially en route and then to polish up the findings on return. This project development ‘roadshow’ worked well and drew up a project proposal the following year. After approval by the GEF council in 2006 for funding under GEF-3, the process stumbled. Reorganisation of the GEF and the GEF’s procedures meant that the project had, effectively, to be resubmitted in a different form for funding under GEF-4. It took until 2009 for SCI-SLM to become a reality. While other project proposals foundered and fell by the wayside under this period, SCI-SLM survived thanks to the dedication and determination of its proponents. A timeline is presented below.

2013	Project’s first phase draws to a close.
2013	Regional Steering Committee and exchange visit: South Africa.
2012	Mid-term evaluation.
2012	Regional Steering Committee and exchange visit: Ghana.
2011	Regional Steering Committee and exchange visit: Uganda.
2010	Regional Steering Committee and exchange visit: Morocco.
2009	Start-up with inception workshop in South Africa and field activities.
2009	Contract signed (CEAD/UNEP–GEF).
2009	UNEP’s approval and then chief executive officer (CEO) endorsement.
2009	Co-financing secured.
2008	PIF endorsement.
2007	PIF submission.
2007	SIP approval.
2006	Intended launch of SCI-SLM but delays due to GEF reorganisation.
2006	Approval by GEF council.
2005	Resubmission of the medium sized project brief (MSP-B) after comments received.
2004	MSP-B completed and submitted to UNEP and GEF.
2003	Mobile reconnaissance missions to the four SCI-SLM countries.
2002	Initial concept drawn up and discussed betweenVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Centre for International Cooperation (CIS-VU) and UNEP

SCI-SLM: goal and objectives

SCI-SLM was approved as a project under GEF’s LDFA with the following overall objective:

To refine ways of stimulating the further improvement and spread of community-based SLM initiatives, while simultaneously developing a methodology to upscale and institutionally embed SCI-SLM approaches at local and regional level in four pilot countries in Africa. The project will contribute to the Strategic Investment Program’s Development and Global Environment Objectives in terms of implementation of policies and on-the-ground investments towards upscaling SLM aligned with national and SIP priorities and reduction of impacts of land degradation on ecosystem functions and services in SIP investment areas. South-to-South exchange and learning between strategically positioned countries is a key element of project design.

Its four components were articulated as follows:

1. identification and analysis of community initiatives in SLM (including monitoring and evaluation – M&E);
2. stimulation and upscaling of community initiatives;
3. awareness raising amongst policymakers;
4. development of methodology for upscaling and institutionally embedding SLM initiatives.

It is also important to point out that SCI-SLM formulated guides to indicate what it precisely meant by a community, an initiative and upscaling. These were points for discussion at the inception workshop in 2009. That workshop identified key elements/criteria to define what these concepts meant in the context of the SCI-SLM project (see also Chapter 3). These are as shown in Table 1.1.

This book: the rationale, the structure and the process

Why this book?

Table 1.1 Elements of key concepts as used under SCI-SLM

Community	Initiative (= innovation) in SLM
• Common interest group	• New in local terms
• Common values/goals	• Developed by a local community/group
• Common identity	• Little or no help/money from outside
• Defined by the innovation	• Technically and/ or socially innovative
	• Have potential to spread

The layout of this book was initially developed at the Regional Steering Committee in Ghana, during 2012. In early 2013, a ‘write-shop’ was convened in South Africa to come to consensus about content and to begin drafting. The chapters were then formulated in the order that follows here. The logic for the order was that the stage should be set out initially; the individual country experiences would then be documented; and following this, thematic areas would be analysed. Finally, a chapter would draw together more general lessons for programmes working with communities – and especially community innovation – in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some comments follow on each of the chapters.

Chapter 2: local innovation – theory, experience and the basis for SCI-SLM

A brief literature review places SCI-SLM in context. Thus, Chambers (1983) is acknowledged for his key role in showing the potential of participatory approaches and Richards (1985) for recognising the power of indigenous knowledge in agriculture. Reij et al. (1996) led the move towards a more systematic study of indigenous systems in SLM, and Critchley et al. (1999) showed how innovative farmers could be encouraged to be further creative in East Africa. By the time Velasquez et al. (2005) and Sanginga et al. (2009) wrote about local innovation and community-led development in the Asia-Pacific zone and Africa respectively, the concepts were beginning to be broadly accepted as valid in terms of development. The theory behind farmer innovation is introduced in this chapter. Five ‘fundamentals’ of the theory are identified: these are (i) local innovation as the dynamic that has shaped tradition; (ii) innovative farmers as perpetual experimenters; (iii) innovators open to sharing of ideas; (iv) pathways of sharing – particular ways in which and reasons why knowledge is exchanged; (v) despite Western science, local innovation endures. There is also an introduction to the precursors to SCI-SLM: the two projects, Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation Phase II and Promoting Farmer Innovation, and a parallel programme entitled Prolinnova (Promoting local innovation in ecologically-oriented agriculture and natural resource management). The emergence of SCI-SLM is traced.

Chapter 3: methodology

The authors of this chapter are drawn from the TAG – the technical advisory group – and they explain how the methodology underpinning SCI-SLM evolved from an earlier project that worked with farmer innovators. The rationale for modifying the methodology is set out: the basic difference being that, while the earlier project worked with individual farmers, SCI-SLM works with communities. Thus the basic approach is similar, but it needs to be modified to accommodate all those within a group who have a stake in the innovation. Methodological frameworks based on steps and flows are presented graphically. The chapter highlights the fact that the refinement of methodology is one of the objectives of SCI-SLM and will form an important output of the overall project. Chapter 11 then looks at the refinement process that has occurre...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Abbreviations
• Contributors
• Preface
• Foreword
• 1 Stimulating community initiatives in sustainable land management: an introduction
• 2 Local innovation: theory, experience and the basis for SCI-SLM
• 3 SCI-SLM methodology: origins of the design
• 4 SCI-SLM: innovation begins at programme level
• 5 Community innovations in sustainable land management: lessons from northern Ghana
• 6 Community initiatives for sustainable natural resource management in the High Atlas, Morocco
• 7 Stimulating community initiatives in sustainable land management in South Africa
• 8 Community initiatives for improving degraded ecosystems in Uganda
• 9 Cross-learning with community initiatives
• 10 Contributing to global environmental benefits
• 11 SCI-SLM methodology: refinement of the original design
• 12 Lessons learnt and conclusions
• Index