CPP Namibia: Country Pilot Partnership for Integrated Sustainable Land Management, Phase 1

Namibia is classed as the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, and is subject to frequent drought episodes owing to temporal and spatial perturbations in rainfall patterns. Land degradation and attendant desertification is an increasing problem, manifest amongst other things in soil erosion, the impairment of hydrological functions, habitat conversion, e.g. through deforestation, overgrazing of rangelands, and changes in the vegetation structure in pastoral areas. As approximately 70% of the population is directly dependant on subsistence agriculture and livestock husbandry, land degradation poses an acute challenge to rural livelihoods, while also undermining ecosystem integrity, and threatening the forfeiture of global environmental benefits The Government of Namibia has identified land degradation as a serious problem, demanding remedial intervention, and has recognised that integrated ecosystem management strategies are needed to effectively address the underlying causes. The proposed GEF Country Partnership for Integrated Sustainable Land Management will seek to address these constraints through the development and coordinated execution of a package of strategic interventions. Activities will be designed to address barriers in implementation, and progressively leverage investment finance from the Government of Namibia, donor community and communities, to take promising management models to scale. The overall goal is to reduce and reverse the process of land degradation in Namibia thus delivering significant benefits to local communities.The immediate objectives of this programme will be defined with more precision during the PDF B formulation stage, but are expected to include: a.To adopt a national integrated SLM approach ensuring coordination of SLM activities and; b.To pilot and adapt models for sustainable land management