DESERT MARGINS PROGRAM GEF CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

1. DESERT MARGINS PROGRAMGEF CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

2. Land degradation severity in desert margins of SSA High Low Non-degraded DMP member countries DMP potential countries

3. Very arid Arid Semi-arid Semi-humid Humid N 1000 km 0 Agro-ecological zones of the desert margins of WA

5. An unbalanced system, a downward spiral Demographic control Population increase Climate change and climate fluctuation Intensification of Agriculture Need for increasing the production Increase in cropped area • Decreasing yields • Land degradation • Increasing competition between crop and livestock for common natural resource base Decrease or suppression of the fallow cycle (traditional way of restoring soil fertility) Cropping of marginal land

6. Potential yield (Experimentation) • Biophysical limitations • Soil fertility • Water • Variety, etc • Which inputs are lacking? The yield gap and the limitations that cause it Yield gap • Socio economic and policy limitations • Knowledge • Credit • Availability • Why inputs are not used? Actual yield

7. Major constraints to sustainable agricultural production and biodiversity conservation

8. Environmental constraints • Infertile erosion prone soils • Limited and unpredictable rainfall • Inadequate irrigation • Reduction of suitable land for agricultural purposes • Pests and diseases

9. Technological constraints • Inappropriate technology transfer • Weak research-extension-farmer linkages • Inappropriate and inadequate technological packaging, as well as limited technological awareness • Limited involvement of universities in research and extension education and lack of adequate trained personnel

10. Policy constraints • Incentives to increase agricultural production are not harmonized and sustained • Inappropriate land tenure systems that limit access to land and security of tenure • Inadequate policy to support sustainable agricultural farming systems

11. Policy constraints ( Cont’d) • Exclusion of the corporate sector from agricultural farming systems • Inefficient financial support to implement technology • Weak logistics to extend technologies e.g. roads, telephones and tools

12. Socio-cultural constraints • Indigenous technical knowledge is not taken into account • Some farmers are not convinced of the added value of technology • Technology conflicts with local knowledge and time-tested traditional practices • Gender barriers to technology adoption

13. Economic constraints • Inadequate access to markets for agricultural produce • Low market competitiveness for agricultural produce • Insufficient funding for agricultural research

14. Economic constraints (CONT’d) • Limited access to farm inputs and credit • High cost of fertilizers inputs and other soil-condition ameliorating methods • Competition/conflicts between agriculture and livestock enterprise on limited land resources

15. Institutional constraints • Inadequate integration of research and development activities • Lack of coordination among and between agricultural research institutions (IARCs and NARS) • Inadequate promotion of sustainable agricultural farming systems

16. Nutrient mining • Burkina Faso: • 95 000 T of N • 28 000 T of P2O5 • 79 000 T of K2O (equivalent to US $ 160 million) • Mali: 40% of farmers agricultural revenue comes from nutrient mining

17. Desert Margins Program Wider Objectives (Goal) • To arrest land degradation and conserve and restore biodiversity in the Desert Margins through sustainable utilization of biodiversity Specific Objectives (Purpose) • To develop and implement strategies for conservation, restoration and sustainable use of dry land biodiversity (to enhance ecosystem function and resilience)

18. Expected Outputs Improved understanding of ecosystem status and dynamics with regard to loss of biodiversity Strategies for conservation, restoration and sustainable use of degraded agro ecosystems developed and implemented NRM Capacity of stakeholders and target populations enhanced

19. Expected Outputs (contd.) • Sound policy intervention/guidelines for sustainable resource use formulated, adopted and implemented • Participatory natural resources management methods are implemented • The target populations are involved at each stage of the project’s cycle

20. Project Activities by year 7. Participation Build capacity of stakeholders to participate fully 6. Up scaling Develop strategies for replication Institutional capacity building of government institutions/farmers in up scaling Wider testing at project site 5. Policy guidelines/ legislation Review and draft new guidelines Test new guidelines / policies Adopt Nation-wide guidelines/ policies 4. Sustainable alternative livelihoods Inventory Tested / Adapted / Adopted Adoption and pilot testing in selected villages 3. Capacity building In participatory approaches to land and biodiversity management In up scaling 2. Rehabilitation of land use Testing implementation scenes Adoption and pilot testing in selected villages 1. Monitoring and evaluation (status and dynamics) Data gathering -Consultation -Synthesis -Compiling existing approaches 1 2 3 4 5 6

21. Costs and Financing (Million US $) GEF: Project : Phase 1 (2 years) $4,987,134 Phase 2 (2 years) $5,617,044 Phase 3 (2 years) $5,365,822 PDF A : $ 25,000 PDF B : $ 340,000 Subtotal GEF $16,335,000 Total project cost $49,507,307 (GEF + Co-Fi + Govt in Kind)

22. CORAF SACCAR ASARECA B.F Mali Niger Senegal Bots Nam S.A Zimb Kenya ICRISAT Board Third Level Second Level Steering Committee DMP C.U. First Level Governance Structure of DMP

23. Conclusions • Biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in the Desert Margins will require:

24. 1. Promotion of sustainable livelihoods • Diversification of sources of income • Promoting sustainable harvesting • Exploring innovative sustainable uses of biodiversity for generating income • Developing markets for products with added values • Benefit-sharing including bioprospecting

25. 2. Availability of sound management practices • Lessons learned from traditional sustainable management • Integrated management approaches • Watershed management • Trans-boundary considerations • Sustainable natural resource management • Water harvesting • Soil conservation

26. Management practices (cont’d) • Land tenure/property rights issues • Community based activities • Empowerment • Public awareness, education/training, international experience • Participatory adaptive management • Participatory crop/tree improvement

27. Management practices (cont’d) • Law enforcement and policy implementation • Decentralization • Community participation • Negotiating skills/conflict resolution • International & regional networking

28. Thank You