The Regreening Africa project is restoring ecosystems in eight countries in Africa and improving the resilience of 500,000 households across sub-Saharan Africa. The project is a joint collaboration with ELD, World Agroforesty, the European Union, World Vision and GIZ.
Since 2017, ELD has provided training on the 6+1 step economic approach for policy-makers and researchers, and produced a series of case studies in the partner countries of Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and Somalia. Targeting key institutions from national research and policy sectors, ELD facilitated the joint development of economic assessments in consideration of multiple land use options.
ELD is now pleased to announce the release of all the case studies conducted under this project. In the eight focus countries, ELD helped conduct studies which assessed the economic cost of land degradation and possible benefits of sustainable land management (SLM) in specific regions. The research highlighted the potential benefits of implementing SLM, and this was then communicated to relevant policymakers, landusers and the international development community.
According to the synthesis report, the case studies collectively found that SLM measures are cost-effective, and are financially and economically viable for producers. For example, in Ghana, the SLM practice of farmer managed natural regeneration constitutes a long-term investment in soil quality, which can increase productivity of farmers' cropland by an estimated 83 per cent within five years.
The studies also showed that government intervention is required to overcome the obstacles of establishment maintenance of SLM practices. In Mali, it was shown that transitioning from conventional land management practices requires initial investments in labour and equipment.
The studies also highlighted the need for private and public finance to ensure the uptake of SLM measures. Possible financial assistance includes low-rate credit for small farmers or subsidies (partial or total) for communities.
ELD's contribution to the Regreening Africa project have shown that the degradation of land has a high cost in terms of lost profits and negative social impacts. It also showed that land restoration brings benefits to populations who have invested in sustainable land management practices. Read more here.
The project is financed by the European Commission and co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is carried out jointly by the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).
ELD Initiative media contact: info@eld-initiative.org