Coordinating international action

WHEN THE DONOR COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS WORK TOGETHER TO
FORMULATE POLICY AND ELABORATE PROJECTS, THE RESULT IS AN INTEGRATED PROGRAMME THAT IS LIKELY TO OBTAIN LONG-TERM FINANCING

Few African countries are in a position to control or prevent land degradation without the support of non-governmental organizations, technical assistance agencies and international financing institutions. Fortunately, there are precedents for managing international schemes of this type

The first requirement is that governments commit themselves to the long-term policies, programmes and financial requirements that can bring about sustainable forms of land use and agriculture.

Secondly, governments must meet with donors, NGOs and technical assistance organizations to develop plans, programmes and individual projects. This is necessary because few African countries have either the financial resources necessary to meet the required levels of commitment or the trained people needed to overcome their problems of land degradation unaided.

Coordinating international action

Many financing institutions, donor organizations, technical assistance agencies and NGOs are ready to help if asked. Such assistance can best be provided if governments and assistance agencies work closely together in developing a long-term programme. By making its ideas and requirements known from the start, a government stands a better chance of obtaining what it really needs - be it equipment, the training of staff, finance or other inputs - over a long period in a systematic and orderly way.

For their part, technical assistance and funding organizations welcome the opportunity to help formulate overall programmes. By doing so they can identify where and how their inputs can best be used and they can select and develop individual projects designed to fit together in an overall national programme.

The way in which the scheme will work is illustrated on the facing page. First, a government asks FAO for help in joining the scheme. A report - an issues paper - is made on the major issues, including recommendations on how to mount a review mission comprising national experts and representatives from the donor community, non-governmental organizations and other agencies.

Such missions usually comprise 6 to 12 people and may take up to six months to complete. They are provided in advance with background information on the country's land resources, and supporting documentation on related issues such as the effects of present legislation and land tenure systems on land use. From this information, and from investigations carried out in situ, the review mission prepares a country assessment consisting of a set of land conservation and rehabilitation policies, programme strategies and future projects. These are carefully harmonized with those that exist in the country's National Economic Development Plan, the National Desertification Plan if there is one, the National Conservation Strategy, the Tropical Forestry Action Plan, World Bank environmental country assessments, FAO's own Special Action Programmes as well as existing land conservation projects.

Governments use the country assessment to formulate the official national action plan. This plan is usually launched at a national ministerial seminar and receives the personal approval of the Head of State.

The flow chart illustrates the principal steps involved for a country embarking on a land conservation programme. Once this is established, individual projects can be developed - and financed - as the building blocks of the programme.

Flow chart

The government then calls a round table meeting between donors and technical assistance agencies. This is the crucial step, for it is here that the projects initially identified by the review mission are presented to the international aid community. Many are likely to attract funding at this stage. FAO's experience with this type of round table meeting suggests that perhaps 50 percent of the projects tabled at the meeting may find financing there and then. Most of the remaining projects are financed during subsequent meetings after ideas have been formulated in greater detail. FAO Investment Centre support may also be needed at this stage to prepare feasibility studies for submission to those financing agencies that have committed themselves to the national programme.

The benefits of joining the international scheme

The potential benefits of developing and implementing a land conservation policy in this way are great. All those who should be involved in the scheme are brought in from the beginning; hence they are fully briefed, and aware of how the policies and projects are developing. Participating nations stand to reap many benefits. The overall objective, of course, is to prevent or slow down land degradation so that sustainable agriculture becomes a practical possibility. But many other important social and economic goals are likely to become more attainable in the process:

• farming risks are reduced and farm incomes increased;
• food security is improved;
• fuelwood supplies become more copious; migration to towns and cities is reduced;
• the quality and quantity of water supplies are improved;
• flooding in valleys and coastal areas is reduced;
• the effective life of irrigation and hydroelectric dams are increased; and
• improvements in the general environment lead to higher living standards.

In an environment where changes of this nature are occurring, governments will find they can make better and more efficient use of their limited human and financial resources. They will also be able to use external assistance in a more effective and coordinated manner. The International Scheme for the Conservation and Rehabilitation of African Lands is a natural outcome of the African crisis of the past decade. It provides African nations with a sound means of investing in the future of their greatest resource: their land. And it provides the international donor community with an opportunity to contribute to carefully planned, long-term programmes that will have lasting impact.

The players... ...and the benefits

This publication was designed and produced by Words and Publications, Oxford

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