Kenya
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) 6 Project: TRI Programme
Between 1990 and 2010, Kenya’s forest cover decreased from 12 percent to only 6 percent, but the country aims to bring it back to 10 percent by 2030. In Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), deforestation is largely driven by unsustainable forest use by communities, including logging for construction materials and fuelwood, overgrazing, land use change and grass fires, and is aggravated by population growth and the lack of alternative livelihoods. Deforestation and land degradation threaten vital ecosystem services, and lead to conflict and the loss of biodiversity, especially in a context of increased droughts due to climate change and poor water management. While several forest and land management policies and laws have been adopted, policy and capacity gaps remain.
The Kenya component of The Restoration Initiative (TRI) project adopts an integrated approach to addressing deforestation, land degradation and biodiversity loss, and targeting policy and institutional capacity while supporting community-led forest and landscape restoration (FLR) and the development of alternative livelihoods.
IMPACTS
The Kenya project, under the global TRI programme, aims “to restore deforested and degraded lands through the FLR approach and enhance the socioeconomic development of local communities through the development of bio-enterprises of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in ASALs.” Its goal is to reduce the overall proportion of degraded land by 20 percent in the areas targeted by the project.
The project is structured into four interlinked components:
- policy development and integration;
- implementation of restoration programmes and complementary initiatives;
- capacity building and finance mobilization; and
- knowledge sharing and partnerships.
GEF7 Project: Integrated Landscape Management for conservation and restoration of Mt. Elgon Ecosystem in Western Kenya
Kenya is a country with great geographic and topographic diversity where the agricultural sector plays a major role in the country’s economy. Agriculture is the second largest contributor to Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP) with smallholder farmers playing a significant role in the overall agricultural production. It is also the fourth largest producer of coffee and maize in Africa, and 16th in the world for coffee. Unfortunately, the unsustainable and inefficient production of these commodities also contributes to the degradation of Kenya’s important ecosystems. Under these conditions, Kenya has joined the Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration (FOLUR) Impact Program (IP) of GEF, to integrate sustainable coffee and maize systems.
The GEF project, Integrated Landscape Management for conservation and restoration of Mt. Elgon Ecosystem in Western Kenya, will work to mainstream biodiversity across sectors, improve the flow of agro-ecosystem services to sustain food production and livelihoods through Sustainable Land Management, and reduce deforestation and land degradation from commodity supply chains.
IMPACTS
The project will focus on strengthening an enabling policy and investment environment for food and nutrition security and sustainable agricultural development, strengthening inclusive value chains, and improving natural resource governance. These priorities sustain the second strategic objective of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable.
The project is structured into four interlinked components:
- development of integrated landscape management (ILM) systems;
- promotion of sustainable food production practices and responsible value chains;
- conservation and restoration of natural habitats; and
- project coordination, collaboration, communication, monitoring and evaluation.