Living Land

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Image: Klaus Ackermann

Access to land rights for women is often difficult. Promoting gender equality is important for food security

and rehabilitation of degraded soils. At the same time, the

aim is to improve the policymaking framework with a view

to establishing incentives for sustainable soil use. To support

capacity-building, active exchange of lessons learned

between partner countries will systematically be enriched

by state-of-the-art science. The programme includes six

measures in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, India and Kenya

and specifically addresses smallholders who are affected

by soil degradation and food insecurity. Experts and deci-

sion makers in ministries, private sector associations, local

government, service providers and education bodies will be

exposed to innovative approaches and technologies.

The legal environment is also important for encouraging

investment in land. In Burkina Faso, we contribute to the

implementation of a land reform process. In many contexts

farmers are willing to invest in preserving soil fertility, but

cannot afford to do so unless property rights are settled.

As gender equality is one of the most effective innovations

against hunger, we particularly support women, who often

have no access to land rights.

The programme will be accompanied in the partner

countries by research from the Institute of Advanced

Sustainability Studies, which will identify entry points for

processes through which the known challenges to sustain-

able land management may be overcome in the respective

local contexts. In this regard, processes of social learning,

dialogue and collective action will play a central role.

The costs of land degradation are largely ignored by

governments and private businesses, and decisions are

often taken without taking into account the services

provided by healthy soils and sustainable land manage-

ment. Therefore, together with the European Commission,

UNCCD and other international partners, BMZ launched

the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative in

2011. It cooperates with the scientific community, the

private sector and policymakers to analyse the economic

costs associated with non-sustainable land use. The results

of sound economic arguments can then be used to demon-

strate to the public and the private sector, the costs of

inaction versus action on sustainable land management.

This approach is especially important in the case of actors

who are not directly involved with land use and soil issues,

such as decision makers from finance departments who are

responsible for allocating funds from a limited budget. The

initiative aims to ensure these decision makers are aware

of the strong economic arguments in favour of investment

in measures to combat land degradation. It should be made

clear that avoiding land and soil degradation is generally

much less expensive than the damage and losses incurred

by allowing it to continue. Providing information on the

economic impacts of land degradation and desertification

thus enables politicians to reach informed decisions.

The initiative is attracting widespread interest and

expanding its human capacity development activities.

Apart from providing workshops and training courses for

interested parties in various countries, along with substan-

tive and strategic support for the Soil Leadership Academy

established by UNCCD and the private sector, a sequence

iving

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