Community approaches to sustainable land management and agroecology practices

Community approaches to sustainable land management and agroecology practices

New York United Nations Development Programme

2017

61 p.

EB0320

The high rate of land degradation is threatening livelihoods and leading to biodiversity and habitat loss. Unless there is a shift in the way land and soils are managed for food production, biodiversity and ecosystem services may be locked into a downward trajectory from which recovery will be impossible or too costly to achieve. The expansion of food production need not come at the expense of native habitat. Rehabilitating and restoring degraded lands offers tremendous opportunities to boost production and enhance food security. Improving land use practices can also go a long way in preserving the health of soils and optimizing the use of water. The GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has been working with community organizations around the world to identify, implement and scale-up innovative technologies in sustainable land management (SLM). Grassroots agroecological practices that integrate the management of land, water, and biodiversity are starting to meet rising food demands particularly in vulnerable communities of dryland countries. By investing and working with communities on sustainable land management and agroecology, SGP has introduced and disseminated appropriate policies and incentives to accelerate pro-poor growth, thereby contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 15 – Life on Land. As of 2017, SGP has awarded over 3,800 small grants to land degradation projects in over 120 countries, many of which are in regions with extreme levels of poverty and food insecurity across Africa and Latin America.

Reports > Other reports