Africa Bureau Environmental Programs: Nurturing Wealth, Power, and Rights

1. USAID Africa Bureau Environment/Natural Resources Sector Overview For NAPFSC Forum on Forestry in Africa February 24, 2003 USAID Bureau for Africa Office of Sustainable Development Economic Growth, Environment and Agriculture (USAID/AFR/SD/EGEA)

2. Presentation outline • Overview of trends in Africa and Africa Bureau programs • Water Initiative and activities in Africa • Accomplishments and future directions of Africa Bureau programs • Challenges and opportunities

3. Guiding principle for E/NRM programs: environment, wealth, and rights are connected • Rural Africa suffers from pervasive poverty, rural disenfranchisement and natural resource mismanagement • NR = sources of wealth, power and patronage • Factors to consider in E/NRM programming: - Environmental – conservation of biodiversity, clean water, soil and water conservation - Economic – revenues from wildlife, non-wood products, entrance fees, eco-tourism - Governance – rural democratic institution building, participation, demands for responsiveness and accountability, checks and balances, promoting transparency, mitigating conflict

4. Linkages: Natural Resources Management (NRM) and Other Sectors Economic Growth & Agriculture Biodiversity NRM Conflict Mgmt Global Climate Change Govern-ance

5. AFR/SD’s E/NRMprograms: SO17 and SO23 SO17: Improved Environment and Naturals Resource Management Systems SO23: Environmental Assessment for Sounder Development Programs (includes compliance with environmental regulations)

6. SO17: Improved Environment and Natural Resource Mgmt Systems Program overview: • Mission support • Improving communications between E/NRM institutions • Building African analytical capacity in E/NRM • Fostering environmental advocacy SO17

7. 1. Mission/Bureau support • Numerous country visits (most to assist field missions in strategic planning, M&E, and assessments) • Regular backstopping in Washington • Organization of the Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG) • Review of Environment SOs • Soil Fertility Initiative • Global Climate Change SO17

8. 2. Improving communications • FRAME Web site and CD • NRM Tracker – sharing successes • AFRICAlink SO17

9. 3. Building analytical capacity • Environmental Trends Analysis • Urbanization and Environment in Africa • Netweaver – decision-support tool • Role of NRM in intensified agriculture • NRM’s linkages to other sectors (continued...) SO17

10. 3. Building analytical capacity (continued...) • Normalized-Digitized Vegetative Index (NDVI) • Web-hosted GIS – access to maps and data • Soil Carbon Sequestration Verification • NRM and Fertilizer-Use Efficiency (FUE) • EIS-Africa (Env Info Systems) SO17

11. 4. Fostering environmental advocacy Policy and governance activities to foster better links between democracy, the environment, and the development of NRM policies. For example: • FRAME Contact Groups support advocacy efforts of African experts • EIS-Africa encourages open access to environmental information • CBNRM activities strengthen community-based organizations SO17

12. SO23:Environmental Assessment for Sounder Development Programs Program overview: Environmental procedures oversight Analytical processes to promote environmentally sound development programming Capacity building in EIA and environmentally sound design Monitoring and mitigation frameworks SO23

13. 1. Environmental procedures oversight • 40-60 activity-level environmental reviews (IEE’s) per year, by mission and implementing partner staff; 2-3 EA’s or PEA’s; 2-3 country-level environmental assessments • BEO works with REOs and MEOs to guide environmental reviews (including assistance via TDYs), and approves final documents • Pesticide use is area of most frequent concern, including ag and health (e.g. bednets) SO23

14. 2. Capacity building for EIA and environmentally sound program design ENCAP EIA training program, best practices guidelines, website, CD BEO Actions Tracker website and CD – access to all AFR env reviews SO23

15. 3. Analytical processes for environmentally sound development programming • AFR/SD guidelines on best practices in environmental review and environmentally sound design have been adopted throughout USAID and are informing World Bank review of small scale activities • Emerging issues (from missions and implementing partners): cleaner production in small scale industry, GMO research, using EIA to reduce HIV/AIDS risks, fumigation of stored food commodities SO23

16. 4. Monitoring and mitigation frameworks • Goal of this focus area is to promote the consideration of environmental soundness principles in the design of USAID programs • Previously: Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Mitigation Plans (EMEMP) were developed for pilot countries – too burdensome • Strategic Environmental Assessment and Monitoring (SEAM) is current proposed approach SO23

17. Presentation outline • Overview of trends in Africa and Africa Bureau programs • Water Initiative and activities in Africa • Accomplishments and future directions of Africa Bureau programs • Challenges and opportunities

18. Water InitiativeWater: Critical to Millennium Development Goals Water Initiative objectives: • Increasing access to clean water and sanitation • Improving watershed management • Increasing the productivity of water use UN’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG): reduce by half the proportion of people living without sustainable access to safe drinking water by the year 2015.

19. Increasing Access to Clean Water and Sanitation Services Concentrating in countries where water authorities are undertaking reforms to allow viable partnerships between local governments, water utilities, the private sector, NGOs, communities and families. Two highlights: • Rural Water Partnership: West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI) • Urban Water Partnership

20. Rural Water Partnership:West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI) • Launched by new alliance of 10 organizations • Investing in small-scale potable water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and water management activities in rural West Africa • USG grants of $4.4 million to complement over $36 million in resources from private foundations and industry groups

21. Urban Water Partnership • Supplies clean water to urban slum dwellers • Helps water authorities implement public-private partnerships to extend water lines, standpipes and sewers into slum areas • Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council (GJMC)

22. Improving Watershed Management Over the next three years, USAID will work on integrating surface water, aquifer, and coastal zone management. USAID promotes productive watershed management partnerships through such activities as: • Guinea Forest Co-Management Project • Nile Basin Initiative

23. SO17 accomplishments and future directions • Mission support • Improved communications • Building analytical capacity • Environmental advocacy SO17

24. SO23 accomplishments and future directions • Environmental procedures oversight • Analytical processes for environmentally sound development programming • Capacity building for EIA and environmentally sound project design • Monitoring and mitigation frameworks SO23

25. Challenges and opportunities for Africa E/NRM programs • Destruction of natural resources increasing in Africa • Importance of natural resources as the basis for sustainable growth just being widely recognized • Need to take a long-term approach to E/NRM programs • Need to provide assistance in formulating environmental policies and implementing environmental regulations (continued...)

26. Challenges and opportunities (cont’d) • Decreased staffing in Africa • Decreased funding and the number of missions that have E/NRM programs • Need to establish means for collaborating with Pillar Bureaus to assure that Mission and country needs are addressed • Emphasis on Presidential Initiatives, but presented in the context of the long-term program of AFR/SD