The African Landscapes Action Plan

The African Landscapes Action Plan
Landscapes for People, Food and Nature in Africa
36 pages
SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
The Global Environment Facility
TerrAfrica
NEPAD
United Nations Environment Programme
Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Government of The Netherlands
World Agroforestry Centre
EcoAgriculture Partners

Based on concrete successes and ongoing best practice from around the continent, the plan includes actions for integrated landscape management programs and practices that can quickly go to scale and have significant impact across Africa in achieving food security and biodiversity and climate objectives.

The plan is a major outcome of the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature in Africa Conference which was hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya in 1-3 July 2014. During this conference, practitioners, researchers and leaders from more than 20 countries in Africa and from organizations around the world discussed the most pressing problems facing African landscapes and determined the most critical actions needed to address them. 

The actions contained in the plan focus on 6 main themes relating to sustainable rural development: 

1. policy, 
2. finance, 
3. governance, 
4. research, 
5. capacity building and 
6. business engagement. 

Critical actions are identified for each of these areas, and key organizations, who were represented at the conference, have already committed to progressing the actions. The action plan is designed to dovetail with major initiatives of Africa’s landscape coalitions, including the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Sustainable Land Management, Desertification, Biodiversity and Ecosystems-based Adaptation to Climate Change (LDBE) flagship program.

Priorities for Research in African Landscapes

Landscapes for People, Food and Nature in Africa Conference

22 September 2014; 9 pages

AUTHORS

• Gete Zeleke, Water and Land Management Resource Center, Ethiopia
• Carmen Jaquez, Land O’Lakes International Development Division
• Phosiso Sola, CIFOR
• Wanja Kinuthia, National Museums of Kenya and East African Network for Taxonomy
• Christine Negra, EcoAgriculture Partners
• Celia A. Harvey, Conservation International

Synthesized research is needed to develop and manage successful integrated landscapes initiatives in Africa. This brief brings together relevant knowledge and provides recommendations for actions for the development of knowledge sharing platforms.

This paper synthesizes findings from several recent publications related to the science of integrated agricultural landscape management, as well as information shared at the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature in Africa conference in July 2014 (African Landscapes Action Plan, 2014). It recommends actions and platforms for building scientific knowledge and capacity in Africa to design and manage landscapes so that they can fulfill the multiple goals of sustainable food and energy provision, generation of livelihoods and human wellbeing, and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Extract:

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme provides important convening functions focused on increasing agricultural productivity. The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the African Union’s Science, Technology and Information Strategy for Africa 2024 (STISA-2024), and other continent-wide platforms are important vehicles for harmonizing African priorities and representing pan-African perspectives in global research dialogues."" (page 6)