i

ACHIEVING LAND DEGRADATION NEUTRALITY IN

LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: CHALLENGES

AND OPPORTUNITIES

Report of the LLDC Side Event held at the 12

th Conference of the Parties

(COP12) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

(UNCCD) on 19 October 2015 in Ankara, Turkey

ii

CONTENTS

Executive Summary

iii

Acronyms and Abbreviations

v

Compilation of Statements and Presentations Delivered at the Side Event at UNCCD, COP12:

Achieving Land Degradation Neutrality in Landlocked Developing Countries: Challenges And

Opportunities

Overview of the Impact of Desertification and Land Degradation on the

Development Prospects of Landlocked Developing Countries by Mr.

Gyan Chandra Acharya, UN Under-Secretary-General and High

Representative, UN-OHRLLS

2

Statement by Her Excellency Ambassador Mirriam Mulenga, Embassy

of Zambia in Turkey, Chair of the Group of LLDCs

5

Statement by Mr. Melchiade Bukuru, Chief, UNCCD Liaison Office,

UN Headquarters, New York

8

Presentation by Mr. Ulrich Apel, Land Degradation Coordinator, Global

Environmental Facility

10

Presentation by Dr. Magda Lovei, Practice Manager, Africa,

Environment and Natural Resources, World Bank

10

Presentation by Mr. Ludo Rochette, First Secretary, Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, Belgium

13

Presentation by Mrs. Mutsa Chasi, Director General, Environmental

Management Agency, Zimbabwe

14

Presentation by Dr. Mmasera Manthe-Tsuaneng, Director, Department

of Forestry and Range Resources, Botswana

16

Annex 1

List of Participants

17

iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This is a report of the Side Event on “Achieving Land Degradation Neutrality in Landlocked

Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities” that was held on 19 October 2015 in

Ankara, Turkey in the margins of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

(UNCCD), 12th

Conference of the Parties (COP12). The meeting was jointly organized by

The United Nations Office of the High-Representative for Least Developed Countries,

Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and

the UNCCD.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for different stakeholders, the UN

system, LLDC Member States, Civil Society, and the Donor community to share information

on the impact of climate change, land degradation, desertification and drought on LLDCs and

suggest concrete ideas and recommendations on how the LLDCs can achieve land

degradation neutrality.

The presentations and discussions held in the meeting reviewed in depth how land

degradation, desertification and drought are affecting the overall development of LLDCs, and

in particular, the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action. The meeting also

reviewed the linkages between the Vienna Programme of Action and the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development. Participants noted the high vulnerability of the LLDCs to climate

change, desertification and land degradation due to the high proportion of their land that is

located in drylands where the soils are very fragile, vegetation is sparse and there is high

water stress. They stressed that most of the people in the LLDCs were dependent on

agriculture as a source of livelihood. The meeting emphasized that landlockedness

exacerbates the challenges caused by land degradation as LLDCs experience higher input

costs and lower output prices making commercial agriculture less viable.

The meeting noted that there were 2 billion hectares of land that are degraded today

worldwide and that most of the degraded land is in LLDCs. Participants highlighted that

some of the challenges that the LLDCs face in trying to mitigate land degradation,

desertification and drought include lack of financial and technical capacities and limited

community knowledge. They underscored the importance of prioritizing support to the

LLDCs to help their efforts to rehabilitate degraded lands. Participants shared experiences

and recommendations important for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development and the Vienna Programme of Action

The meeting identified the following recommendations to support the LLDCs to achieve land

degradation neutrality, in conformity with Goal 15.3 of the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable

Development, and to achieve the objectives of the Vienna Programme of Action:

The establishment of the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Fund which should

prioritize allocation of resources to the LLDCs. The LDN Fund will promote the

rehabilitation of degraded land, and support sustainable productive uses of upgraded

land by providing adequate and long-term financing and technical assistance.

The need for a holistic approach involving cooperation among all the relevant sectors

and development of national sustainable development plans that include adopting

sustainable land management policies and practices in order to minimize current and

avoid future land degradation, and rehabilitation of degraded lands and abandoned

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production lands as well as restoring degraded natural and semi-natural ecosystems

that provide vital benefit to people and working landscapes

GEF-6’s Land Degradation Focal Areas (LDFA) need to become more focused to

influence transformational change at a global scale through developing a stronger

link to the sustainable development goals and global development aspirations, namely

agriculture and food security.

The GEF-6 LDFA requires more resources that are effectively targeted at priority

areas.

Countries should continue to deepen their knowledge about methods of addressing the

challenges of land degradation. Greater research, and enhanced use of toolkits, and

good practices, more strategic communication through innovative instruments should

be utilized and South-South experience and knowledge sharing should also be

incorporated.

The World Bank should scale up successful programs such as the Great Green Wall

project of the Sahel and West Africa Program (SAWAP). Furthermore, the Bank must

generate broad development goals of improving food security and livelihoods,

creating green jobs and bolstering of growth, improving biodiversity and habitat, and

strengthening of climate change resilience and adaptation.

It is important for the LLDCs to advocate for a land based approach to adaptation as

they prepare for the Paris Climate Change Conference of Parties. Such an approach

would yield multiple benefits including enhanced food security, alleviation of water

stress and help build the resilience of LLDCs to climatic shocks.

LLDCs should rehabilitate degraded lands and abandoned production lands and adopt

sustainable land management policies and practices including water harvesting

technologies, irrigation schemes, and climate-smart agricultural techniques.

The international community should support the LLDCs to move from reactive to

increased regular investment systems into social protection and other social services

to address dryland challenges.

v

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AF Adaptation Fund

CC Climate Change

COP Conference of Parties

CSA Climate-Smart Agriculture

DAC Development Assistance Committee

DLDD Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GEF Global Environment Facility

LDCF Least Developed Countries Fund

LDFA Land Degradation Focal Area

LDN Land Degradation Neutrality

LLDC Landlocked Developing Countries

MDG Millennium Development Goals

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OHRLLS Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed

Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island

Developing States

SAWAP Sahel and West Africa Program

SCCF Special Climate Change Fund

SDG Sustainable Development Goals

SFM Sustainable Forest Management

SIP Strategic Investment Program

SLM Sustainable Land Management

STAR System for Transparent Allocation of Resources

UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

COMPILATION OF STATEMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS

DELIVERED AT THE SIDE EVENT AT UNCCD, COP12

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STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. GYAN CHANDRA ACHARYA, UNDER-SECRETARY-

GENERAL AND HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE LEAST DEVELOPED

COUNTRIES, LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND SMALL ISLAND

DEVELOPING STATES

Excellences, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, let me thank you all for coming to this important event organized to analyze

and suggest ways and means to achieve land degradation neutrality in the Landlocked

Developing Countries. My Office is appreciative of the excellent partnership with UNCCD

and we hope to continue this in the years to come.

I would also like to sincerely thank you for your kind participation.

Let me start by giving an overview of landlocked developing countries and where they stand

in some of the core development areas.

The United Nations has recognized 32 landlocked developing countries, widely dispersed

around the globe: 16 are located in Africa, 12 in Asia, 2 in Central and Eastern Europe, 2 in

Latin America.

Despite their location on four different continents, all landlocked developing countries share

some common problems ranging from their geographic features, nature of economic

engagement with the rest of the world entwined with transit related challenges, over

dependence on narrow natural base, degraded land and desertification with high level of Agro

dependent livelihood and high level of vulnerability to man-made and natural disasters. All of

this has impacted upon their prospect for prosperity with the complex challenges of poverty,

hunger and food and nutrition insecurity.

The geographic remoteness without maritime access implies heavy dependence on trade and

on transport systems of neighboring countries. As a consequence, many LLDCs find

themselves marginalized from the world economy, cut-off from the global flows of

knowledge, technology, capital and innovations, and unable to benefit substantially from

external trade. This has resulted in less marketization, narrow production and export bases,

leading to limited economic growth and persistent poverty.

A study undertaken by my office in 2013 on the development cost of being landlocked

suggests that, on average, LLDCs are 20 per cent poorer their coastal country counterparts. A

third of households in landlocked developing countries were living on less than $1.25 a day

in 2002-2013. Poverty rates could be over 50 per cent in some LLDCs during the same

period. Not surprisingly data from the World Bank 2014 Doing Business Report indicate that

the cost of importing and exporting in LLDCs is almost three-fold than that of their transit

neighbors. The average cost for such countries to export and import was $3,443 and $4,343,

respectively, compared with $1,301 and $1,559 for transit developing countries.

In addition to remoteness from major market, cumbersome customs and border crossings

procedures, limited infrastructure, missing links, inadequate transit facilities and inefficient

logistics systems –among other things- result in higher transport and trade transaction costs,

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the structural vulnerabilities and limited productive capacities of LLDCs expose them

disproportionately to the severe negative impacts of economic crisis and climate change.

Economies of landlocked developing countries are highly vulnerable to climate change,

desertification and land degradation for a number of reasons:

Firstly, most of landlocked developing countries lack institutional, human capacity and

resources to tackle these challenges.

Secondly, many of these countries are too dependent on climate-sensitive resources such as

agriculture, livestock, forestry, water, fisheries, etc.

Thirdly, most landlocked developing countries are dependent on a few primary agricultural

and/or mineral commodities and almost two thirds of population is still dependent on

agriculture.

Lastly, many landlocked developing countries are located in dryland regions where the

impacts of climate change, desertification and land degradation are more pronounced than

anywhere else. In total, 54 per cent of total land in LLDCs is classified as dryland, and about

60 per cent of the population in LLDCs is located in drylands area. Botswana and Burkina

Faso are 99 per cent arid and dryland, while a sixth of the populations of Mali and Burkina

Faso have been displaced from their homes and farmland by land degradation. Therefore, the

location of LLDCs in drylands makes them more vulnerable to the impact of climate change,

desertification and drought.

For example, from 2005 to 2014, severe and frequent droughts in Eastern and Southern

Africa have resulted in food shortages, in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland,

and Ethiopia. Drought in the Sahel region caused severe famine in Niger and Chad. Drought

also depresses hydroelectric power generation for example in Zambia. The Central Asian

LLDCs, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and

Uzbekistan, have been affected by desertification owing to increasing water shortages, while

Nepal has experienced massive degradation of arable land due to floods and storms. In

addition, climate change has exacerbated land degradation, desertification and deforestation

in landlocked developing countries. Of the 29 countries in the world that have a proportion of

the population living on degraded land of 20 percent or greater, 13 are LLDCs. Such major

impacts have negative impact on agricultural productivity. Low productivity implies low

incomes and limited affordability of food, leading to a high incidence of poverty and low

equilibrium trap.

Low productivity in agriculture is also symptomatic of difficulties of many LLDCs to initiate

structural transformation, which is one of the priority areas of the Vienna Programme of

Action.

In sum, land degradation, droughts and desertification hamper the ability of the LLDCs to

achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Unfortunately LLDCs have the least

potential to adapt and mitigate to the impacts. They lack the necessary financial and technical

capacities to mitigate and adapt to those impacts.

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Reversing and preventing desertification, alongside mitigating the effects of drought, are

crucial to reducing poverty and improving environmental sustainability in drylands. Drylands

have some of the highest levels of poverty and hunger. The current famine ravaging some

parts of Africa underscores the need to address the root causes of this crisis by building

resilience and improving rural livelihoods with a view to minimizing the negative impact and

the scale of any future crisis: droughts do not happen overnight. In many countries these areas

also have a long history of neglect in investment and sustainable development interventions,

having been marginalized from both development processes and political discourse. This

marginalization cannot continue. In our increasingly globalized and interconnected world,

drylands are important to us all for climatic, economic and geopolitical reasons.

Even against all these challenges, there are also important best practices and lessons learned

from the policies, practices and knowledge from each region. The successful examples need

to be scaled up and supported by all. That is also the objective of this side event: raising

awareness, sharing experiences and promoting partnership with strong action on the ground.

Against this background, landlocked developing countries warmly welcomed the adoption of

the Goal 15.3 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that aims at combating

desertification, restoring degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification,

drought and floods, and striving to achieve a land-degradation-neutral world in an inclusive

manner.

The Vienna Programme of Action for landlocked developing countries for the decade 2014-

2024, adopted in Vienna, Austria, in November 2014, came out with the six priorities for

LLDCs.

Looking forward, I would like to call upon international community to enhance and support

to landlocked developing countries, particularly those affected by climate change,

desertification, land degradation and drought, which are key challenges to structural

economic transformation and poverty eradication. This support will include access to already

existing financing mechanisms such as: the adaptation fund, the global environmental

facility, the Least Developed Countries Fund, the Special Climate Change Trust Fund, and

others. I also support the proposal by UNCCD to establish a dedicated Land Degradation

Neutrality Fund. For landlocked developing countries, this fund will represent an opportunity

to achieve sustainable land management and reclaim degraded land.

More studies are also required to estimate the true extent and multi-dimensional impacts of

climate change, desertification, land degradation and drought. In this regard, I would like to

share with you some copies of the report that my Office prepared on the Impact of Climate

Change, Desertification and Land Degradation on the Development Prospects of the

Landlocked Developing Countries. The report is also available on the website of my office.

Thank you for your kind attention.

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STATEMENT BY H.E AMBASSADOR MIRRIAM MULENGA, ZAMBIAN

EMBASSY IN TURKEY, CHAIR OF THE GROUP OF LANDLOCKED

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, Excellencies, Distinguished Representatives, Ladies and

Gentlemen

I have the honour to deliver this statement as Chair of the Group of Landlocked Developing

Countries (LLDCs) to this side event on “Achieving Land Degradation Neutrality in

Landlocked Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities”– an issue that is of great

importance to the development of LLDCs.

Desertification, land degradation and drought devastate people’s lives, the impacts are

particularly heavier in the landlocked developing countries who because of their geography

have a large proportion of their lands under dryland ecosystems that are highly vulnerable to

the impact of desertification and climate change. Degraded land and encroaching

desertification have far-reaching implications in LLDCs. Desertification, Land Degradation

and Drought (DLDD) foster food insecurity resulting in widespread hunger and increased

populations living in extreme poverty. This situation exacerbates increased migrations,

instability and other social crises.

The impacts of DLDD exert tremendous pressure on our economies – which none of our

countries can afford to bear alone because of the disadvantaged development path that the

LLDCs pursue while facing the challenges exacerbated by being landlocked.

It is an indisputable fact that generally, we the LLDCs have remote access to the sea ports a

situation that increases the cost of transportation of goods to the world markets. In addition

our Countries are beset by other challenges linked to inadequate infrastructure, inefficiencies

at border crossings and bottlenecks related to customs procedures leading to high costs of

doing business. These high costs impact negatively on our national budgets thereby slowing

down our economic growth resulting in our countries not being able to fully harness the trade

potentials to support our intended sustainable development agenda.

We are very grateful that during the post 2015 Sustainable development Summit and the

United Nations General Assembly, our Heads of State and Government adopted the new

global development framework – Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development that acknowledges the needs of the most vulnerable countries including the

unique and special challenges related to land-lockedness.

As you know the 2030 agenda has a Sustainable Development Goal Number 15 which

addresses desertification and thereby directly relating to the Vienna Programme of Action for

the landlocked developing countries for the decade 2014-2024. This Programme of action

was adopted by Heads of State and senior representatives from governments and international

organizations in Vienna, Austria, during the Second United Nations Conference on

Landlocked Developing Countries held from 3rd

to 5th

November 2014.

The Vienna Programme of Action is a 10 year action-plan aimed at accelerating sustainable

development in the world’s 32 landlocked developing countries. It is designed as a holistic

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programme with an overarching goal to address our special development needs and

challenges.

The Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted last July also recognizes the special needs and

challenges faced by landlocked developing countries and the need to provide adequate

financial and technical support in order to help us implement programmes to eradicate

poverty in all its dimensions and achieve sustainable development in an integrated manner.

It looks like we have all the fundamental frameworks in place to take us to where we would

like to be – countries without poverty, hunger and disease free-countries where consumption

and production patterns and use of all natural resources are sustainable.

We desire to be countries with inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work

for all, countries with well-developed infrastructure and productive capacities, countries that

have structurally transformed their economies and have well diversified economic production

base; countries that have transited through, from being landlocked to being land-linked – just

to mention but a few.

However in our countries, this wonderful vision can only be achieved if the challenges of

climate change, desertification, land degradation and drought are tenaciously and

expeditiously addressed. We all depend on land and natural resources for our living. To this

end, addressing these core issues in a holistic manner is necessary particularly for landlocked

developing countries to achieve sustainable development and improve our livelihoods.

Therefore, there is an urgent need for concerted action to prevent the worsening of the current

socio-economic situation occasioned by desertification and land degradation in our

landlocked developing countries.

Let me briefly highlight a few issues that are key in ensuring that landlocked developing

countries are able to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).

First - we need adequate and predictable financial support to enable us fully implement

measures for reversing land degradation. In line with the 2030 agenda for sustainable

development, financial resources to LLDCs, including Overseas Development Assistance

(ODA), should be encouraged and enhanced. We also call upon the UNCCD to help our

group receive targeted funding that is earmarked to assist us to address the impacts of the

desertification, land degradation and drought.

Second – capacity building support, science and technology, are critical in supporting our

efforts to achieve land degradation neutrality. We call for continued and scaled up support,

with simplified access modalities, from the international community.

Third – sharing of successful experiences is a key ingredient for our success in achieving a

land-degradation neutral world. I wish to appeal for practical measures to foster enhanced

sharing of experiences amongst our countries.

Finally - the full implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action and 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development is very important in ensuring the achievement of sustainable

development in our countries. It will help bring out the desired outcomes including greater

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success in the social, economic and environmental development pillars of our countries,

which are “economically viable”, “socially acceptable” and “environmentally friendly”.

I have high expectations that the discussions that we will have in this meeting shall help shed

light on how we can mobilize additional resources to help us address desertification, land

degradation and drought.

We all have a duty to make this planet a better place to live in. Planet earth is a heritage from

God and an estate that we must pass on to generations to come without being blamed for not

having done the right thing.

I thank you for your attention.

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REMARKS BY MR. MELCHIADE BUKURU, CHIEF, UNCCD LIAISON OFFICE,

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Ambassador Mulenga, Mr. Moderator, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentleman,

Let me at the outset express our appreciation for the excellent collaboration between UNCCD

and OHRLLS, as reflected in the organising of the side event and the publication which will

be launched at this event entitled “The Impact of Climate Change, Desertification and Land

Degradation on the Development Prospects of Landlocked Developing Countries’.

As we all know, and Mr. Acharya recalled it, most of the world’s poor, hungry and

malnourished reside in the landlocked developing countries. All LLDCs are heavily

dependent on a fragile natural base – i.e. land -for their development. All the LLDCs are

primarily producers of agricultural products. At the same time they are among the worst

affected by land degradation and desertification. Indeed the major impediments to sustainable

development in LLDCs remains extreme poverty land degradation, desertification and

drought. Those challenges corrode the three pillars of sustainable development of LLDCs.

The UNCCD has a close link to LLDCs. All 31 countries are affected by Desertification and

Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD). More than 50% of agricultural land is moderately to

severely degraded.

Land degradation not only entrenches people in poverty, it jeopardizes food security, increase

water stress locally and regionally, and triggers biodiversity loss and deforestation. DLDD

negatively impacted the achievement of MDGs.

Landlocked developing countries are also among those most vulnerable to the adverse

impacts of climate change. As the report entitled “The Impact of Climate Change,

Desertification and Land Degradation on the Development Prospects of Landlocked

Developing Countries” points out, many LLDCs are located in dryland regions, where the

impacts of climate change, desertification and land degradation are more pronounced. Indeed

it is in drylands – where the soils are very fragile, vegetation is sparse and the climate is

particularly unforgiving that desertification and land degradation wreaks havoc, leading to

sharp declines in agricultural productivity- the mainstay of many LLDC economies.

Climate change is further exacerbating this situation with many regions facing more frequent

and prolonged droughts or unseasonal rainfalls and flooding, leading to loss of fertile topsoil

through erosion. It would be in the interest of LLDCs to advocate for a land based approach

to adaptation, as we look ahead to the Paris Climate Change COP. Such an approach would

yield multiple benefits including enhanced food security, alleviation of water stress and help

build the resilience of LLDCs to climatic shocks.

At Rio plus 20, world leaders acknowledged that land degradation and desertification posed

serious challenges for the sustainable development of developing countries particularly

LLDCs and also committed to strive to achieve a Land Degradation Neutral (LDN) world.

World leaders gathered recently at the UN Sustainable development Summit 2015 adopted a

far reaching agenda for the coming decades and committed to achieving the sustainable

development target of land degradation neutrality by 2030. This is especially crucial for

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landlocked developing countries which depend on the land, their natural capital. UNCCD can

assist landlocked developing countries in achieving land degradation neutrality by providing

the necessary tools and indicators to monitor progress.

For the first time since its existence, Parties to the UNCCD have now a global target to guide

the implementation of the Convention. The Convention has now entered the realm of

measurability. In many countries also, achieving land degradation neutrality will require a

paradigm shift in land stewardship: from “degrade-abandon-migrate” to “protect-sustain-

restore”. This means cooperation among various sectors and national sustainable

development plans that embrace complementary management options including:

(a) Adopting sustainable land management policies and practices in order to minimize

current, and avoid future land degradation and

(b) Rehabilitating degraded lands and abandoned production lands as well as restoring

degraded natural and semi-natural ecosystems that provide vital benefit to people and

working landscapes.

As we embark on the SDG15 and target 15.3 pathways, LLDCs will constitute a test case. It

is a category of countries where the implementation of LDN will bear a quick impact and

show quick results. Most of degraded lands in LLDCs countries bear a strong potential for

rehabilitation. Today, 2 billion hectares of land are degraded. 500 million are agricultural

land that we have abandoned. Most of those lands are in LLDCs. This is why LLDCs should

receive a priority in our efforts to rehabilitate degraded lands. If appropriate investments are

consented, I have no doubt that in 2030, LLDCs can be listed among those countries who can

achieve land degradation neutrality. Of course, those countries should pay priority to DLDD

issues.

The LDN Fund will promote the rehabilitation of a minimum of 12 million hectares of

degraded land per year, supporting sustainable productive uses of upgraded land by providing

adequate and long-term financing and technical assistance.

The Fund aims to:

Generate revenue streams from sustainable production/use of upgraded lands;

Contribute to the achievement of global and local food security by the year 2050;

Mitigate climate change by sequestering up to 20% of CO2 emissions by 2050;

Increase the resilience of vulnerable population, species and ecosystems to climate

change.

To close my remarks, I wish to say that the battle to achieve a land degradation neutral world

will be won in LLDCs should those countries give it a priority and investments in reclaiming

degraded lands be made accordingly.

Thank you.

10

PRESENTATION BY MR. ULRICH APEL, LAND DEGRADATION

COORDINATOR, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACILITY

The GEF provides financing to eligible affected country Parties for activities that support

implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. GEF-6

Replenishment has provided $431 million in funds for Land Degradation Focal Area (LDFA)

projects, with $346 million being a part of System for Transparent Allocation of Resources

(STAR), in which 144 eligible countries are included, and $85 million being set aside as

funds for Programs and Enabling Activities. GEF investment focuses on Sustainable Land

Management (SLM) in production systems – agriculture, rangelands, and forest landscapes.

Other SLM funding windows such as the SFM program and three adoption funds managed by

the GEF (LDCF, SCCF, AF) are available as well.

With regards to Land Degradation Focal Areas, the GEF is mandated to finance efforts to

arrest and reverse land degradation and provide direct support to implement the UNCCD. We

are focused on Sustainable Land Management in production landscapes, with 120 million ha

targeted for SLM coverage globally. As a result of our work, the flow of ecosystem services

have increased or maintained, we have helped sustain crop, livestock, and forest production,

and have provided sustainable livelihoods for the local populace, resulting in development

benefits for those regions.

As a part of GEF-6’s Land Degradation Strategy, we have identified three emerging global

priorities. The first is Food Security, namely improving and increasing food crop production

in vulnerable regions. The second is Climate-Smart Agriculture, or enhancing resilience and

climate change mitigation in crop and livestock systems. The final emerging priority is Forest

Landscape Management and Restoration, including increasing forest and tree cover in

targeted areas.

To deliver multiple environmental and social benefits and to seek synergy, the GEF has a

number of Cross-Focal Area Linkages, namely the SFM Program, Biodiversity, International

Waters, CC Mitigation, and CC Adaptation (LDCF/SCCF).

In conclusion, GEF-6 LDFA needs to become more focused to influence transformational

change at scale. LDFA requires a stronger link to SDGs and global development aspirations,

namely agriculture and food security. Finally, GEF-6 LDFA requires more resources that are

effectively targeted at priority areas.

11

PRESENTATION BY DR. MAGDA LOVEI, PRACTICE MANAGER FOR

ENVIROMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES, WORLD BANK

Drylands are areas of the world that are particularly vulnerable to land degradation.

Approximately 35% of the global population live in drylands, with 72% of this group

residing in developing countries. In Africa, drylands, including aid, semi-arid, or sub-humid

areas, account for 43% of land area, 50% of the population, and 75% of agriculture land.

Over 3% of Africa’s agricultural GDP is lost annually – equivalent to US$ 9 billion per year

– as a direct result of soil and nutrient loss.

People and development in drylands are particularly vulnerable. Economically, about 75% of

Africa’s poor, which are those living on less than $1.25 a day, are in countries with dryland

population greater than 25% of total population. The occurrence of droughts affecting over 2

million people has increased from 20% (1970s) to 90% (2000s). Socially, the Horn of Africa

is home to over 4 million internally displaced people and 2.5 million refugees due to war and

drought. The Sahel region is home to over 500,000 internally displaced people and 400,000

refugees.

Landlocked geography adds to the challenges caused by land degradation. Service delivery is

more costly, commercial agriculture is more difficult with higher input costs and lower output

prices, international markets are less able to cushion shocks in times of crisis, and remoteness

from global institutions leads to political marginalization.

The first development priority to addressing the challenges of land degradation is to improve

natural resource productivity and resilience through landscape approach. Integrated landscape

management improves livelihoods, increases productivity, enhances resilience, and

contributes to carbon sequestration. We find that large scale landscape restoration and low

cost conservation techniques offer great promise with regards to addressing these challenges.

The second priority is to improve productivity through enhanced water infrastructure and

CSA. Only 8% of water resources in Africa are developed, and water storage per person

remains low. Significant potential exists for high return (>12%) on larger- and smaller-scale

irrigation schemes, and climate-smart agricultural techniques are promising, low-cost

approaches.

The third priority is to increase connectivity on all levels of markets and governments. At the

local level, we must connect remote dry land areas with local markets; at the national level,

we must integrate dry lands with growth poles driven by expanding urban areas; and at the

regional level, we must enhance-cross country trade to pool risks and boost growth.

The fourth priority is to improve social protection and other services. This includes

improving crisis preparedness (forecasting, local capacity, institutions) and response (scaling

up existing systems), establishing and expanding the coverage of national adaptive safety nets

to cover the poorest people, and investing in education and health services, and gradually

building capacity of vulnerable households to move out of poverty.

The World Bank is supporting efforts to combat land degradation through a variety of

programs. The Strategic Investment Program (SIP) consists of 36 operations in 29 countries

including US$ 1 billion invested by the Bank and the GEF from 2007-2014. This has resulted

12

in engaging 13,700 extension workers, improving the lives of 420,000 farmers, a 174,000

hectare increase in land area where SLM practices have been adopted, and 540,000 tons of

Carbon sequestered as of December 2012. The Sahel and West Africa Program (SAWAP), in

support of the Great Green Wall Initiative, has resulted in US$ 1.1 billion total new financing

by World Bank, GEF & Adaptation trust funds to thirteen operations covering twelve

countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria,

Senegal, Sudan, and Togo.

Countries should continue to deepen their knowledge about methods of addressing the

challenges of land degradation. Research, toolkits, and good practices are available, strategic

communication through innovative instruments should be utilized, and South-South

experience and knowledge sharing should also be incorporated.

Looking forward, the World Bank will scale up successful programs such as SAWAP in

support of the Great Green Wall, and commit to the results of bringing 100 million hectares

of degraded and deforested land under restoration in Africa by 2030. Furthermore, the Bank

will generate broad development goals of improving food security and livelihoods, creating

green jobs and bolster growth, improving biodiversity and habitat, and strengthen climate

change resilience and adaptation.

13

PRESENTATION BY MR. LUDO ROCHETTE, FIRST SECRETARY, FOREIGN

AFFAIRS, BELGIUM

Twelve of the fourteen bilateral partner countries of Belgium are Least Developed Countries,

and seven of these fourteen partner-countries are Landlocked Countries. Of these fourteen

partners, most of them are classified as “fragile states”. A fragile state strategy has been

worked out, and Belgium wants to invest 50% of its ODA in Least Developed Countries.

All partner-countries are affected countries according to the definition of the UNCCD-

convention.

Belgium is relatively (2,5% of ODA) one of the biggest contributors to the implementation of

the UNCCD-10yr-strategy according to ODA-OECD-DAC-statistics 2011-13 with 132m

USD/year, mostly on a multilateral basis to UN and Bretton Woods organizations &

affiliates.

In the last Belgium-UNCCD report 344 instances of lines, activities, projects, programs, and

funding were mentioned to realize the UNCCD strategy, most of them with Rio-Marker 1

(DLDD as secondary objective).

The environment strategy in developing countries stresses the need for mainstreaming

environment in capital sectors (agriculture, health, education, and infrastructure); sectoral

approaches for soil & land management, water management, forest management, and waste

treatment, particularly in cities; and finally, the need for policy coherence.

14

PRESENTATION BY MRS. MUTSA CHASI, DIRECTOR GENERAL,

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AGENCY, ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and

Limpopo Rivers. Bordering South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west, Zambia to the

northwest, and Mozambique to the east, Zimbabwe covers an area of 390,757 sq. km.

Zimbabwe’s capital and largest city is Harare.

Zimbabwe faces many challenges related to trade, including remoteness from major

international markets, inadequate transport infrastructure, and high transportation and

transport costs. Consequently, Zimbabwe faces high costs of access to the world economy,

inability to benefit substantially from external trade through marine transport systems

affecting the country`s development prospects, and high costs of achievement of

internationally-agreed goals including Land Degradation Neutrality.

Zimbabwe also faces increased vulnerability to climate change and DLDD, with key drivers

being soil erosion, invasive alien species, and veld fires. Climate change creates many

problems, including declining pastures and livestock productivity, water scarcity, extreme

events damage to infrastructure and agriculture, and declining crop productivity, which all

leads to hunger, poverty, and malnutrition.

Zimbabwe has a fragile ecology, with temperatures rising 0.9 degrees Celsius from 1901-

2012, and variable rainfall, with an increase in extreme events of heavy rainfall and dry

spells. Zimbabwe is also subject to high evaporation and in the last two decades there have

been more years in the drought category than all other decades on record. Between 1980 and

2013 six drought events affected 14.8 million people and caused damage worth $3.6 million.

The Vienna Programme of Action set objectives to promote structural economic

transformation, with special emphasis on industrialization, value-addition, value chains, and

institutional and human capacity development. Zimbabwe has sought to align the VPoA to

national priorities, such as the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic

Transformation (Zim Asset), an economic blueprint for October 2013 to December 2018.

Zimbabwe is also focusing on the priority clusters of food security and nutrition, value

addition and beneficiation, and social services and poverty eradication. In pursuit of a new

trajectory of accelerated economic growth and wealth creation, Zim Asset was crafted to

achieve sustainable development and social equity, anchored on indigenization,

empowerment and employment creation, which is largely propelled by the judicious

exploitation of the country’s abundant natural and human resources.

Zimbabwe is also aligning the VPoA to other national priorities, such as: the Zimbabwe

United Nations Development Action Framework (ZUNDAF); Sector policies i.e. Agriculture,

Food & Nutrition, Water, Microfinance, Environment; Zimbabwe Agriculture Investment

Programme (ZAIP), disaster risk reduction; National Climate Change Response Strategy;

Second National Communications (2012); and UNCCD National Action Plan.

Zimbabwe is also investing domestically to increase productivity. One such case is that of

Chiredzi, one of the 60 most vulnerable districts in the country coping with drought and

climate change. The Climate Adaptation project in the Chiredzi district has 3000 direct

beneficiaries, and interventions have included captive crocodile breeding, community based

15

wild life management programmes, improved crop production through irrigation

development, crop diversification, Cassava production, small grain crops and livestock

intervention, and community fisheries project. There has also been capacity building of

service institutions, research, early warning systems for communities, empowerment of

communities, and policy interventions. These efforts have been time consuming and

expensive, but they make a difference on the ground with regards to people’s lives and the

regional economy.

Thank you.

16

PRESENTATION BY DR. MMASERA MANTHE-TSUANENG, DIRECTOR,

DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND RANGE RESOURCES, BOTSWANA

I cannot talk about LDN without first touching on drought since it is key in my country.

Drought is the result of poor climatic conditions and climate change; and land degradation is

a result of inappropriate livestock practices and bush encroachment. These environmental

challenges lead to lack of drinking water, increased susceptibility to diseases, loss of

productive land, reduced forest cover and veld products, and reduced developmental growth

as well as escalated costs of services.

Botswana like the rest of the SADC region has been hard hit by drought and as such there is

serious shortage of water especially in the small village where I come from. I want to share

with you my personal experience. Over the past few months we started with one day

rationing of water in a week, then moved to two days a week then four days a week. Now as I

speak in my village we go for one month without water then a day of water. So when I came

here, I spend 30 minutes in the shower just appreciating water because I had been carrying

water in a bucket for a month. That is why the DLDD issues are close to my heart. I could go

on and on about how this situation has affected lives of many people. For example about a

month ago the Ministry of Health issued a press release stating that they will only undertake

critical operations due to shortage of water until further notice.

To mitigate the effects of DLDD, Botswana is undertaking several initiatives such as Drought

Monitoring and Early Warning Systems, Vulnerability Assessments, Emergency Relief and

Drought Response, Poverty Eradication Program and Sustainable Land Management

program. Currently the SLM programme through funding from GEF is implemented in three

(3) strategic regions in Botswana. The Central district SLM’s goal is to improve the integrity

of the Makgadikgadi ecosystem and to secure the livelihoods of rangeland dependent

communities. In the North West district, the goal is to mainstream SLM in rangeland areas of

Ngamiland landscape for improved livelihood. The Bio-Chobe SLM project goal is to

strengthen management effectiveness of the National Protected Areas System to conserve and

maintain healthy and resilient ecosystems with strategic emphasis on the Chobe-Kwando-

Linyanti matrix of protected areas. The Restoration of Degraded Land through construction

of land rehabilitation structures, Tree Planting Program, and Sand Dunes Stabilization are

other key initiatives being undertaken.

In conclusion, the primary challenges facing Land Locked Developing Countries trying to

mitigate DLDD is lack of available resources and limited community knowledge on DLDD.

To address these challenges, Botswana recommends increased funding hence strongly

supports the establishment of the LDN Trust Fund, capacity building, water harvesting

technologies, and improved land restoration technologies. These will go a long way in

facilitating LLDCs to achieve the LDN target.

Thank You.

17

Annex 1: List of Participants

Member States

Azerbaijan

1. Mr. Vasif Aliyev, Embassy of Azerbaijan in Anakra, Turkey,

vasifaliyev@yahoo.com, +903124911681

Belgium

2. Ludo Rochette, 1st Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

ludo.rochette@diplobel.fed.be, +322 501 8514

Bhutan

3. Hake Doukpe, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, hakedoukpe@gmail.com

Botswana

4. Dr. Mmasera Manthe-Tsuaneng, Director, Department of Forestry and Range

Resources, mmanthe-tsuaneng@gov.bw, 267-3188554

Cambodia

5. Meas Pyseth, Director of Department of International Cooperation, Cambodian

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishries, pmeas@online.come.kh,

+85512759440

Chile

6. Sebastian Marin, smarin@minrel.gov.cl, +905333143609

Ghana

7. Isaac Charles Acquah, Enviromental Protection Agency, icacquah@hotmail.com,

+233243044082

Guinea-Bissau

8. Kaowssou Siombera, Ministry of Agriculture, kadiombera@yahoo.fr, +2455804851,

+245633162

Lao PDR

9. Mr. Saysamone Phothisat, saiphothisat@gmail.com, +8562055336888

Lesotho

10. Clement Ratsele, Ministry of Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation,

ratselec@yahoo.com, 0026658884347

Republic of Korea

11. Dr. Ho Sang Kang, Seoul National University, silvi1@snu.ac.kr, +82-2-880-4880

18

Kyrgyzstan

12. Stefanie Ettling, GIZ, Stefanie.ettling@giz.de, +996770544555

Malawi

13. Mrs. Nyuma M. Mughogho, Deputy Director of Forestry, nmughogho@hotmail.com,

+265 (0) 886481341

Namibia

14. H.E Pohamba Shifeta, Minister of Environment and Tourism, shifeta_za@yahoo.com,

+26461284335

15. Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, shangula@mweb.com.na, +264811246812

16. Ndapanda Kanime, Chief Conservation Scientist, Ministry of Environment and

Tourism, nahenda2010@gmail.com, +264612842701

Nepal

17. Jhanak Kumar Khatri, Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology,

khatrijhanak@yahoo.com

18. Ram Hari Pantha, Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology,

rhpantha@hotmail.com, +9779851150202

Niger

19. Fode Hadiza Anarone, Minstry of Livestock, Niger, gonbahad@yahoo.fr,

+2279633104, +22790539844

20. Idrissa Mamoudou, Ministre-Secrétariat du CNEDD, mamoudou27@yahoo.fr, (227)

96981561, (227) 90601238

21. Yacouba Seydou, Director General of Water and Forests, yacoubseybou@yahoo.fr,

+22796987515

22. Ibr Adameu, Assistant Director General of Water and Forest, ibradameu@yahoo.fr,

(227) 9695910

Timor-Leste

23. Mario Rebeiro Nunes, mnunes_62@yahoo.com, +67077233137

Turkey

24. Orhan Dengiz, dengizorhan@gmail.com, +05055383353

25. Ms. Sevilay Ozcelik Sonmez, Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs,

sozcelik@ormansu.gov.tr

Uzbekistan

26. Ms. Raisa Taryanikova, CACILM, Head of NSEC, raisa.taryanikova@ncsa.uzs,

+998712358461

27. Dr Gulchekhra Khasankhanova, UZGIP Institute, MAWR,

g.khasankhanova@mail.zu, +99871140592

19

Zambia

28. H.E Ambassador Mirriam Mulenga, Zambian Embassy in Turkey, Chair of the Group

of LLDCs

29. Ms. Mwangala Simate, Senior Natural Resources Management Officer, Ministry of

Lands, natural Resources and Envriomental Protection, mwasimate@yahoo.com,

+260977764025

30. Bwalya Lyapa Nondo, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Zambia in Ankara,

Turkey, blnondo2000@gmail.com, +905346741978

31. Ms. Viola Mtamila, Chief Planner, Ministry of Energy and Water Development,

vmtamila@gmail.com, +260966259174

32. Mr. Jonathan Kampata, Principal Water Resources Engineer, Ministry of Energy and

Water Development, Department of Water Affairs, jkampata@yahoo.com,

+260955806049

33. Mr. Rodwell Chandipo, Zambia Environmental Management Agency,

rchandipo@zema.org.zm, rchandipo@gmail.com, +260966878593

34. Ms. Doreen Chibomba-Mukwanika, nmchibomba@yahoo.com, +260966220718

Zimbabwe

35. Mrs. Mutsa Chasi, Director General, Environmental Management Agency,

Zimbabwe, emazimbabwe@yahoo.com

36. Alleta Nyahuge, Planning and Monitoring Manager of Environmental Management

Agency, anyahuge@gmail.co.zw, +263712457854

United Nations, International, Regional and National Organisations, Private Sector,

Academia and Others

FAO

37. Ms. Sally Bunning, FAO, sally.bunning@fao.org, +393480519095

GEF

38. Mr. Ulrich Apel, Land Degradation Coordinator, Global Environmental Facility

39. Mr. Andrew Chilombo, achilombo@thefeg.org, +12025940641

UNCCD

40. Mr. Melchiade Bukuru, Chief, UNCCD Liaison Office, UN Headquarters, New York

UN-OHRLLS

41. H. E. Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, UN Under-Secretary-General and High

Representative, UN-OHRLLS

42. Mr. Andre Nikwigize, Senior Programme Officer, Tel. 1-212-963-1488, Fax. 1-917-

367-3415, Email. nikwigize@un.org

43. Ms. Gladys Mutangadura, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Tel : 212-963-3316, fax:

917-367-3415, Email: mutangadura@un.org

20

World Bank

44. Dr. Magda Lovei, Practice Manager, Africa, Environment and Natural Resources,

Email: mlovei@worldbank.org

45. Dr. Michael Morris, Lead Agricultural Economist, mmorris3@worldbank.org

46. Ms. Madjiguene Seck, Email: mseck@worldbank.org